Heroes of Olympus: Don't Be Afraid of the Dark
by dkhockey18
Summary: One last quest. One last enemy to put to rest. Percy and Dax lead their team north to hunt down a lead in Canada, while Jason and Frank head to Rio. Nico finds himself in way over his head when a mysterious goddess asks for help. With a giant and Titan on the loose, can the heroes survive their most elusive prophecy to date? Sequel to Blood of Olympus: The Sea Spawn and the Mutt.
1. Here We Go Again

**A/N: The heroes are back and ready to throw down. Of course it is a sequel, so any new readers who are royally confused check out The Blood of Olympus: The Sea Spawn and the Mutt. I know, I know, this one is better so just check out Chapter 3 for the confusing bits I made up. Please review!**

**Here We Go Again**

The fall chill rolled off Long Island Sound was quickly chasing away the last bastion of summer. Dax took a deep breath of sharp September air. He pulled his cloak tighter around his shoulders as he slipped out of the Poseidon cabin without waking his drooling brother, Percy Jackson. A light mist curled around his ankles as he walked towards the beach. The sun's rays were beginning to leak out over the horizon.

Skirting the woods, Dax walked through the empty dining pavilion. His last meal at Camp Half Blood for the foreseeable future was cheeseburgers, pancakes, and ice cream. In a few hours, Dax would embark on what was hopefully his last quest as an active pawn and defender of the Olympian gods. He was going to have a bombastic retirement party.

Dax took off his boots at the beach. The sand squished delightfully between his toes. The sand was cold, but the shock helped to wake him up – infinitely better than coffee. Waves lapped gently at the tips of his toes.

Since the war with Gaea ended, Camp Half Blood had been peaceful and calm, only punctuated by an Ares cabin swirly or Hermes haywire prank. It was slow and beautiful and a welcome change of pace to Dax's life. Camp Half Blood was his home as much as the _Marathon_ was.

Tensions between Greeks and Romans were at an all-time low. With Leo's help, an Olympian speed subway was being built to connect the camps.

The Flotilla was slowly but surely assimilating into their society as well. The mysterious third faction of the gods' children kept mostly to itself, but remained anchored above Camp Half Blood most of the time. Some of the engineers volunteered to help with the railway.

The most inspiring part of the past month had been how quickly the Greeks opened their doors to the _Marathon's_ crew. Within days, the Stolls were actively recruiting Jack and Keenan for pranks. The Aphrodite cabin welcomed Jenni with open arms. Skylar got along with everyone beautifully, even Clarisse, which according to Percy was a divine accomplishment. And as far as Dax was concerned, the campers overlooked his odd and intimidating heritage. That's the sort of thing that happens when you save the world.

Oh right, Dax is the son of Poseidon and Athena, in case you forgot. And in typical son-of-Poseidon fashion, refused his rightful immortality and godhood that was stolen from him at birth. Idiot.

Jack was banned from capture the flag after he was caught cheating with his super-speed for the sixth time. Keenan accidently burned down half of the Demeter cabin. Percy and Annabeth had declared their spot at the bottom of the canoe lake off-limits after they caught Dax and Jenni down there.

And yet, the Heroes of Olympus, as Chiron called them, were about to walk away from it all, right back into the heart of war.

Dax unsheathed his sword. The morning sun glinted harshly off of the two-toned blade, forged from both Celestial Bronze and Imperial Gold. Dax reread the inscription on the blade for the thousandth time: _In Memorium_. Despite all the progress, there were still big holes left in the camp and its heroes. Holes that only time could fill, but every day was a little bit better. A little. Dax released a heavy breath he didn't realize he was holding.

"You ready to rock and roll, Wonder Boy?" A voice said behind him.

Dax didn't turn around. "Jack, I figured I was going to have to drag you out of bed."

"I can never sleep the night before a quest," Jack said. His eyes fixed on the horizon. "I still don't like this splitting up deal. Together nothing can beat us."

Dax sighed. "Maybe that's the point? The Fates want to make it harder on us."

"Well they do a bang-up job of it," Jack said. "Nico disappearing really worries me, man. It has to be connected to whatever we are doing right?"

"I don't know, but it's pretty hard to believe in coincidences in our line of work. Even with what I've heard of his track record, it's bizarre," Dax said, "We are totally in the dark on this one."

"It's kind of fun, isn't it?" Jack laughed, "I mean the gods are all freaking out because Gaea is supposed to be the 'final chapter,' or whatever. We have a totally new chunk of history to write."

"And if we aren't around to write it after its over? What then?"

"Someone will write it. Even if it's not you or me," Jack said, "Even if I live I won't be writing anything."

Dax blankly stared ahead, trying to conjure up new monsters they would encounter. He watched as a half-man, half-octopus leapt out of his mind's eye and charged across the waves. The beast collided with an enormous hermit crab wielding a spear and shield. Tentacles smashed through wood. The spear pierced octo-man's heart. A barbed appendage crushed the crab's shell, and both monsters slid beneath the waves.

"How are you doing, bro?" Jack asked. He was drawing something in the sand.

"What?" Dax asked.

"You know what I mean. We haven't talked about any of it."

"We've been busy, Jack."

Jack smirked. "Yeah, we've been doing a great job distracting ourselves, haven't we? Rebuilding this, playing a game of that."

Dax didn't respond. Jack was right, they had done a superb job ignoring the aftermath of the war. Dax didn't even talk to his girlfriend Jenni much about it. It was still sore, really sore. He wasn't sure he was ready to just talk about Ryder like it was normal, like it was okay.

"I don't know, Jack. I haven't had much time to really think. The mourning is over. I guess it's just up to time and filling the hole." Dax answered.

Jack stared down at his sand doodle. "I don't want to come to terms with it. It's not fair."

"It's not supposed to be," Dax paused. "We can't forget them. We can't forget any of it, even how unfair and painful it was. That's why we keep fighting. So nobody else has to feel that ever again. We're protecting little Harvey and Clarisse and even Chiron."

"That is an enormous burden for teenagers," Jack said. "You think our parents fully realize that?"

"Maybe," Dax said. "Maybe not. But we've been doing a good job so far, I'd say."

A whistle sounded behind them. Percy was grinning at them.

"Morning, Tweedle-dee and Tweedle-dum! We are trying to start the meeting and would love for the two of you to join us. But take your time. It's your world, dudes."

"Who are you calling dumb?" Jack asked. He sprinted at Percy and knocked the son of Poseidon on his butt before zipping off towards the Big House.

"I hope he knows he's going to pay for that," Percy said to Dax, who hadn't moved. "Come on, bro."

"Right behind you."

Dax slowly got to his feet. Looking down at Jack's sand sketch, Dax was impressed by the level of detail. Three boys stood on the bow of a ship as the sun rose in front of them. They appeared to be smoking cigars. Jack even included little puffs of smoke. A faint memory tugged at the back of Dax's mind, but he couldn't pull it forward.

After giving up on recalling the memory, Dax left the beach to join his friends. The waves tried to follow, again and again, slowly erasing Jack's drawing until there was nothing but unbroken, unblemished sand.

The war room was silent when Dax walked in. By war room, he meant the room in the Big House home to the ping pong table. Twelve pairs of eyes fixed on Dax. Across the table from him was Chiron, sitting in his magically fake wheelchair to make room for everyone. He was flanked by Rachel Dare and Percy. Annabeth Chase stood on Percy's other side. She managed a weak smile. The rest of the Heroes of Olympus took up the rest of the room. Jack was sitting in a rocking chair in a corner. Skylar yawned. Hazel and Frank were quiet and attentive. Keenan whispered to Piper, and Jason Chase watched Dax.

Dax squeezed between Jason and Jenni. "Everyone ready for our next vacation?"

Jenni grabbed his hand. She whispered, "You ready?"

"As always." Dax squeezed her hand.

Chiron cleared his throat. "Heroes, I am afraid I cannot offer you many words of wisdom. You have all achieved incredible feats. Only your experience can prepare you for what is to come, and you are all aware of how often that comes up short. I do have faith that you will succeed once again."

Dax had come to realize that Chiron's pep talks were anything but peppy. Of course, that didn't mean the old centaur was wrong. Chiron's words echoed Jack's idea of writing a new chunk of history. Dax elected to stick with Jack's optimism rather than the alternative.

"Someone refresh me on everything we know so far," Frank said.

"We're splitting up to find the son of the north and rescue the daughter of day in Brazil," Annabeth said, "And we only know a portion of the prophecy."

"We have to find and capture the best fighter the Titans had along the way," Jason said.

"There was something vague about hunting a fox where a giant was killed," Piper said.

"Panama," Dax said.

Everyone turned to look at him. The original crew of the Marathon, and Dax guessed a number of the others knew why Panama was important. Long story short, some of the giants did some really awful things to demigods, and Dax sent them all to Tartarus, painfully. Dax fought to keep the anger contained in the memory.

"Panama." Dax exhaled. "Where I killed my first giants. Specifically, Panama Viejo."

"The first European settlement on the Pacific coast of North America. The English attacked the Spanish there in 1671. The ruins there are a national landmark," Annabeth spouted.

"Sure," Dax said, "The battle happened in the ruins and surrounding area. Half of the town was destroyed."

"So we can expect a warm welcome," Frank said.

"And Nico's missing," Hazel said. Her eyes were moist.

"Which has to fit into this somehow. I just don't see where." Keenan said like he was wrestling with an evasive puzzle. Hazel glared at him, which he was oblivious to.

"We don't know enough yet," Jenni said. "Jumping the gun will just make us way more anxious when we can't afford to be. Or worse, get someone hurt."

"Jenni's right. We have to take this one step at a time," Percy said. He took a deep breath and looked at his shoes briefly. "There's one more tiny, little detail. Not all of the giants are dead. Alcyoneus survived the Battle of Olympus."

Most of the jaws in the room became unhinged.

"So he's still out there?" Hazel asked.

Jason narrowed his eyes. "When were you going to tell us this?"

Percy shrugged. "Uh, right now."

"Ah, that must be tied to Nico." Keenan said satisfactorily. Hazel's glare intensified. Keenan continued not to notice.

"Yeah, Keegs. My dad told me when we were on Olympus. I'm sorry I kept it a secret, but like Jenni said, we can't get freaked out about things outside of our control."

"Nico can have the giant. That guy must be royally ticked at us." Jack said.

Silence claimed the room. Dax scanned the other faces. The others looked weary. Maybe it was the short night sleep. Maybe it was still lingering from the last war. Or maybe each and every one of them knew they were going to be fighting for their lives again, and they were afraid.

"Okay," Dax said. "Let's get to work."

"Not so fast, brats," A new voice echoed.

Dionysus waddled into the room. Last night must have been wild, because Dax had never seen someone's eyes so red and bleary from a hangover. The pudgy god, wearing his usual purple Hawaiian shirt, wormed his way between Jason and Piper so he could stand in the spotlight.

"Yes, yes, you all performed so adequately on your previous quest. Really try to do better this time around. Anyway, I have a gift." Mr. D said.

"How generous," Percy said.

Mr. D glared at him, then searched the room until his eyes settled on Jack. "You, new John." Mr. D rummaged through his pocket until he found and produced a spool of white thread. A faint glow surrounded the string. He tossed it to Jack. "That is a gift from my wife. It will never run out, but don't be a fool and waste it, because you only have one use."

"Yarn? You think I can weave?" Jack asked.

"It's thread! Hades you're thick. Someone explain the significance of my wife's _thread_ to him later. Good luck. Some of you headaches, please feel free to get skewered or maimed along the way." Mr. D glared at Percy.

The god snapped his fingers and he disappeared in a cloud of purple smoke.

"On that happy note, let's get this show on the road." Jason said. He wore a lopsided grin.

The crowd shuffled out of the Big House. The Marathon and Hephaestus were floating right overhead.

Dax stopped and looked around, taking in his new home for what could the last time for a while. The two crews said a quick goodbye and shuffled to their respective ships. No one wanted to dwell on that goodbye, it was more like a see you later.

Percy threw an arm around Dax's shoulders. "Ready, bro?"

"Why does everyone keep asking me that?" Dax asked.

Percy shrugged. "When we get onboard, want to spar a round or two? My ADHD is killing me right now."

"I might need more than two rounds." Dax said.

"I like where your head's at. C'mon."

The final passengers boarded the _Marathon_, and both ships reeled in their anchors. With a final wave, the _Marathon_ pointed her bow north and the _Hephaestus_ began to drift south.

_Here we go again._


	2. Wonder Boy Did It

**Wonder Boy Did It**

Percy sat in the same chair as he did when he was first introduced to the Marathon's crew. That had only been a month ago, but Percy felt like years had passed. His new friends felt just like his old ones. That's the kind of thing that happens when you almost die together a handful of times.

"I've never been to Canada before," Dax said. He paced across the Marathon's mess hall.

"Based on my last trip, you haven't missed much," Percy said through a mouthful of pancakes. "It's cold, and there's lots of monsters and maple syrup."

"What do we know about Boreas again?" Skylar said as she sipped on an iced tea. She was the only one who looked at easy.

"He's a grumpy old wind god –" Annabeth started.

"And he's a coward. He served Gaea." Percy finished.

"Yeah, we only need information from him. I'm more concerned with his kids, mainly Khione." Annabeth said.

"Have you met them?" Dax asked.

"No. It was always Piper, Leo, and Jason. That doesn't mean they'll like us any better." Annabeth said.

"Let's keep the party small to keep tensions low. Jenni, definitely, because of her charmspeak." Skylar said.

"I'll go with her." Dax stopped pacing.

"Whoa there, Wonder Boy," Jack said. He was sitting on the table next to Percy, "We want to keep tensions low. You're wired like a Mercedes' V10 right now. Let Percy and Annabeth go with Jenni."

Jack's face was relaxed, but he his voice was strained. Percy agreed with him. Dax was really agitated about something, but he'd also go stir crazy on the ship with Jenni potentially in danger. Percy didn't mind sitting out the trip to the frozen penthouse.

Percy stole a quick glance at Annabeth. She nodded, and Percy knew they were thinking the same thing. "We'll compromise. Dax and I will go with Jenni." Percy said.

Jack narrowed his eyes. Percy hoped he trusted their judgment, and he didn't blame Jack for being wary. Percy's gut told him it was the right call. He and Jenni together could keep Dax reined in. Probably.

"Your call, Annabeth," Dax said with one eyebrow raised.

"Percy's right," Annabeth said. "We should be close. You three should get ready."

Dax and Jenni left quickly. Percy stood to follow but Jack caught his eye. _Watch him_, the son of Apollo mouthed.

_No promises_, Percy mouthed back with a wink. Jack made a less than polite gesture in response.

Percy followed Annabeth to the top deck.

The _Marathon_ hovered over a hotel in the middle of Quebec City. As the ship approached, the roof opened to reveal a massive room covered in ice and snow. The opening was just large enough for the _Marathon_ to squeeze in and land.

Percy gulped. He didn't like this place. His gut told him something menacing lived here. It said that Percy didn't belong, and they should leave immediately. He'd learned a long time ago to ignore that feeling, even if his gut was smarter than his brain fairly often.

"You're sure this is the place?" Jenni asked.

"Are you kidding?" Jack said as he gazed at the frozen room. "Have fun guys!"

Skylar elbowed hi., "Be careful, guys!"

Percy took a deep breath. Annabeth said, "I won't be able to maneuver the _Marathon_ down there."

"Take us down," Dax said.

Annabeth squeezed Percy's hand and then walked to the helm. With a slight lurch, the ship descended into the bowels of the hotel.

Dax threw the ladder overboard and began to climb down. Percy landed with a soft crunch of snow. The penthouse could have been a beautiful ballroom if it wasn't an abandoned freezer. Icy windows spanned floor to ceiling. Long red curtains were frozen in place. The floor was made of royal blue tiles. The only light came from the opening in the roof. The shadows cast by the ornate furniture loomed.

Jenni crunched down behind him. "Let's not stay any longer than we have too."

Percy couldn't have agreed more.

"Jason said to follow the stairs." Dax motioned to the end of the room.

Dax led the way and Percy took up the rear. The stairs were sinister. No light shone from the hallway at the top.

Halfway up the stairs, Jenni's foot slipped. She yelped as she fell backwards. Percy caught her.

Dax wheeled around, his sword drawn and eyes wild, ready to obliterate whatever had attacked Jenni.

"It's okay, Dax. I got her," Percy said.

Jenni let out a deep breath. "Thanks, Percy."

Dax's breathing was still labored from the sudden adrenaline. Percy would bet their ship every hair on Dax's body was standing straight at attention. He was wound too tight. If they ran into Khione, and she tried to pull a fast one, this was going to get real ugly real fast.

After scanning the room again, Dax turned back to the staircase. Why had Dax suddenly become so protective of Jenni and so jumpy? He was usually the cool, calm one, unless he got angry. But this wasn't anger, this was fear.

They stopped at the top of the staircase. The hallway was nearly pitch black. Dax unsheathed his sword and muttered a few words under his breath. A faint green glow began to emanate from the blade, illuminating the hallway.

"Cool trick," Percy said.

Dax rolled his eyes. "Skylar enchanted it. You can thank me when you don't fall on your face over a block of ice."

Percy snorted. "Me… fall? And they say you don't have a sense of humor."

"Who says that?" Dax asked.

Percy laughed and nudged Dax forward. "After you, Mr. Glowstick."

The trio advanced down the hall, ignoring the rotting doors and corridors that split off. The passage ended in a pair of massive double doors, which Percy imagined would normally stand majestically, with its large engravings leering down at them. Now the doors were smashed, like the Minotaur had charged through them. Splinters of wood lay half covered in snow. Larger pieces lay strewn inside the room.

"That's encouraging." Dax muttered as he stepped over the wreckage.

A white mist hung over the room, which glowed creepily in front of Dax's sword. No light shown through the windows. Percy could only tell the hall was long, and it was empty. The entire Twelfth Legion could have comfortably eaten dinner there.

They slowly walked the length of the room. The only sounds were their snow-crunching footsteps and chattering teeth. Percy's heart beat fast. It had to be a trap. He drew his sword.

"WHO DARES?" A voice boomed.

The mist retreated to the edges of the room. The three heroes were only ten feet from the foot of a throne of ice. An old, haggard man in a snow-white suit sat atop it. His eyes burned with anger.

"We seek the son of the north," Dax said.

"You do not understand what you mean." The man laughed without mirth. His voice carried a thick French accent. "I'm sure you're aware that I am Boreas, or else you would not have come here. But who has come?" The god quickly sized up the three, "Percy Jackson, savior of Olympus a hundred times over. What a pleasure it is. Jennifer Whirty, daughter of Aphrodite, and the infamous Mutt."

Dax barred his teeth. Percy stepped forward. "Will you help us with our quest? We only need a little information."

"Help you? You foolish, arrogant boy. Look at my realm!" Boreas swept his arms across the room, "As punishment for aiding Gaea, the Olympians stripped me of my duty. The other wind gods divided up the North winds among themselves. They emancipated my icicle army and handicapped my power. They took my sons away from me! Why? Because of you and your friends' insufferable, intolerable refusal to die. You want my help, demigod? No, no, it is much too late for that."

Boreas spat at their feet.

The temperature in the room fell another ten degrees. Percy drew his sword slowly. "Sons… Where is Khione?"

An icy voice sent a chill down his spine. "Ah, Percy Jackson, and here I thought you were supposed to be the dumb counterpart to Chase's genius. Too late, I'm afraid, have you found your wit."

A girl with dark hair and a white dress walked silently out of the mist. She stopped only a few feet in front of Jenni. Percy saw Dax tense and coil, like a viper about to strike. _Not good_.

"Go crawl back under the rock you've been hiding under, Khione. You don't want the gods to find you." Percy taunted.

"Oh, they will not find me, just as they did not find Oceanus and will not find Alcyoneus. Your Olympians are not as all-powerful as they like to pretend they are. Besides, who is going to tell them? You will not be leaving this place." Khione smiled.

This was going south fast. They couldn't two snow gods in their home in the snow. Dax took it upon himself to improvise.

Dax lunged forward and grabbed Khione's wrist with his free hand. He pulled her close to him and spun the goddess so she was facing Boreas. Dax brought his blade up to her neck. Its green radiance grew more intense, glowing grotesquely off Khione's pale skin.

Flurries of snow began to whirl around Khione's hands. "I wouldn't try that, if I were you." Percy said.

"You know who I am," Dax said. "You know what I can do. Do not test me."

Percy couldn't tell if Dax was bluffing or not. Killing a giant was one thing. Did Dax really think he had the power to kill a god? Percy was skeptical. The anger in Khione's eyes melted into fear at the possibility.

"You will never leave this room," Boreas said. The white mist began to spiral around them.

"Tell me what I want to know!" Dax yelled over the whippingwind.

"Release me and I promise I'll kill you quickly," Khione said.

"Boreas, please! Help us and we'll let her go. No one has to get hurt," Jenni said, her voice echoing with power. Boreas sat back in his chair, as if the power of her voice was too much to bare without back support. The winds calmed. Khione fidgeted less.

"You do not understand," Boreas said.

"Then help us, please." Jenni's voice was calm. Warmth attacked the chill in Percy's bones.

"You do not seek any of my family. I am god of the north winds, not of the north. That title has not been claimed since this age began."

"You mean we are looking for a son of a Titan?" Percy asked.

"To find the one you seek, you must go to Halifax, Nova Scotia."

"Release me!" Khione yelled. The winds began to spin faster again.

"Is that all, lord Boreas?" Jenni asked with a smile. The winds slowed. Percy was awed. This girl was incredible. How could she remain so composed, so focused, and so powerful?

"When you get there, I would not recommend approaching from the air." The god was stone-faced.

"That's it?" Dax yelled.

"Be thankful you got even that, you ungrateful Mutt," Boreas said. "Now get out!"

The winds buffeted them. Percy had to take a few steps backward.

In the confusion, Khione freed herself from Dax. She swept her hand at Jenni. Snow flew around Jenni's legs and froze her in place.

"Dax!" Jenni called out in surprise.

"The girl pay for your mistake," Khione said.

Dax yelled, and for a moment his whole body glowed green along with his sword. Percy knew what was about to happen, and got ready to run. He hacked at the ice around Jenni's legs with Riptide and pulled the girl free.

Dax's glowing blade stabbed the snow goddess' stomach. A surprised cry escaped Khione's lips. She doubled over, and fell to the floor. Her hand came away from her belly dripping golden ichor.

"Impossible," Khione said, "You couldn't – I can't – I feel… cold."

Khione dissolved into a flurry of snowflakes. The mist in the room evaporated. Boreas was shocked into silence.

"Run. Now," Percy grabbed his friends by the arms and dragged them both behind him. In a few steps, Dax and Jenni recovered and were sprinting towards the end of the room.

"I don't have much power left, but I have enough. YOU WILL PAY!" Boreas cried. The room shook. Massive icicles fell from the ceiling and shattered.

At the doorway, Percy glanced behind him. At Boreas' end of the room, the snow on the floor rose up into a wave that hurtled towards them, gaining size and speed with every foot.

"Avalanche! Faster! Faster!" Percy yelled.

He willed his legs to carry him as fast as physically possible. They flew down the hallway. At the same time they reached the stairs, the avalanche slammed into the throne room's far wall. The hotel screeched, and a colossal crunch echoed down the hallway. The snow shot down the corridor like a canon.

The concussion wave knocked Percy forward into Dax, who stumbled forward onto the stairs. He fell and rolled down to the base.

"Dax!" Jenni cried as she ran down the stairs.

Dax slowly got to his feet. Jenni and Percy barreled into him and picked him up without stopping. Thankfully, Annabeth and the others heard the commotion and were ready. The Marathon was rising slowly towards the hole in the roof. The rope ladder hung down waiting for the three of them.

Jenni and Percy closed the gap as snow started to cascade down the staircase. With one arm on Dax, they each grabbed the side of the ladder and twisted it into a solid grip.

"Annabeth! Up, up, up! Faster!" Percy yelled.

The Marathon jolted and rose faster. Snow exploded out of the hallway, blasting a hole twenty feet wide. The three dangling heroes were covered in seconds, but they held on. Percy felt himself being dragged through feet of snow. His arms burned. He spit out snow and cried out.

Then they were free of the avalanche and gliding through open air. Percy breathed a sigh of relief.

Annabeth poked her head over the side, "What in Hades did you do?" She crossed her arms like she was scolding a toddler.

"Wonder Boy did it," Percy said. He flashed a tired smile.

Dax grunted.

Jack appeared next to Annabeth and together they hauled their friends to the deck.

The anger in Annabeth's eyes melted into concern. "Thank the gods you're alright," She threw her arms around Percy.

"Despite our best efforts," Percy said.

He turned and looked over the railing. Below the ship, the hotel was shrinking from view. Through the roof opening, he could see the penthouse was almost half-full with snow. If the others onboard the _Marathon_ hadn't reacted so fast, Boreas would have gotten his wish.

The other half of the hotel's tower, where the throne room was, was destroyed. The two corner walls were completely blown out and snow poured down the side of the building. Percy wondered how the mortals were going to explain that. Then again, this was Canada. They would probably chalk it up to a freak storm or rogue moose invasion and go on without giving it a second thought.


	3. That's When I Knew

**A/N: Hey guys. This turned out to be one of my favorite chapters to write. I hope you enjoy!**

**That's When I Knew**

Annabeth was nervous. No, she was scared and very, very anxious. She hated not knowing, not understanding what they were getting themselves into. After been friends with Percy for years, Annabeth had been forced to adapt to a lot of unpredictable situations. Still, this quest didn't sit well with her. They were going to have to trust whoever this "son of the north" is, as well as the girl Jason's team find in Brazil.

A prophecy had never been left so open before. How could they prepare themselves if they didn't even know the whole thing?

Annabeth stamped her foot in frustration. She took a deep breath to calm herself. _Relax_. She couldn't let herself freak out about things out of her control. Go with the flow.

Fresh air. That will help. Maybe enough for her to get some sleep.

Percy was deep in a drool-inducing sleep, so Annabeth had been easily able to sneak out of their room without waking him. Let Percy grab any peace and rest he could. He earned it.

Well, they all had earned it, at least three times over. What's the harm in saving the world one more time?

_A whole lot._

Annabeth was so deep in thought she was barely registering her surroundings. She didn't even realize she was out on the deck until she banged the side of her hip on the mast.

"Ow." Annabeth said to no one as she rubbed her hip.

"Hey!" A voice called from above.

Annabeth looked up, but couldn't see anything in the darkness. Squinting, she caught a flash of white. "Skylar?"

"Yeah! I'm on watch. Couldn't sleep?" The other girl called back down.

"Not a wink." Annabeth replied glumly.

"Well then come up here and hang out. It's dreadfully boring all by myself." Skylar said.

Despite the cold, despite their quest, Skylar's voice was full to the brim with her unique warmth. Annabeth closed her eyes and let that warmth soak through her, from her ears down to her toes. Annabeth took a deep breath. She was reminded of how far she and Percy had come, how much they had changed. It wasn't like the old days, with just the two of them, and sometimes Grover or Thalia, running off on quests. Annabeth could – needed to – lean on their other friends too.

_Together, together, we can do this. _

"Coming!" Annabeth called back.

With renewed energy, Annabeth scampered up the ladder to the Crow's Nest, where Skylar was waiting with a big smile.

"Bad dream?" Skylar asked. Her white hair sparkled in the glow of the stars.

"No, my mind has just been flying off the handle at night recently. It's almost impossible to settle down." Annabeth said.

"I understand," Skylar replied, "Then let's talk about something else. Pretend we are watching Mean Girls on your cabin's couch."

Annabeth smiled, "Unfortunately, we are all out of popcorn."

"I'll live. So tell me! Percy, I want all the details." Skylar's smile turned mischievous.

Annabeth's smile broadened. She couldn't imagine the day that even the thought of Percy wouldn't be able to make her smile. "What do you want to know?"

"The beginning. It's always the cutest part. The teasing. The awkwardness. The fighting. I love it." Annabeth was surprised that Skylar didn't squel.

"Are you sure you're not an Aphrodite girl?" They both laughed, "I don't think that _cute_ is the word I would use to describe Percy and I when we were twelve. Looking back at it, I don't see a way that we couldn't have fallen for each other. I mean, we were inseparable by necessity. Aside from a few close friends, there was no one I trusted more, no one who knew as much about me as Percy."

Annabeth didn't know who's smile was bigger, hers or Skylar's. "When did you know?" Skylar asked.

"I think – I think I consciously accepted it three summers ago. I was kidnapped by Atlas and held at Mount Othrys in Frisco. Percy snuck out of camp to join the group that was coming to rescue me. When they found me, Atlas almost killed all of us. Percy took the burden of holding up the sky so that Lady Artemis could fight the Titan. He held it until they tricked Atlas into taking it again. He was fifteen! That's when I knew we were never leaving each other. It took him a lot longer."

"That's incredible. The two of you are incredible. All of your stories and achievements… they should write books about you guys!" Skylar cried.

Annabeth laughed. Books were pretty close to permanent. They were a legacy, but not necessarily the one Annabeth wanted to leave. Lauding achievements were never her style, nor Percy's. They weren't special, they were just survivors. They were scared, cornered kids who refused to give up or fail. Anyone could do that.

"Stop that. Look at you, look at all of us! Do you think Percy and I would be here today if it wasn't for every one of you guys, all the other demigods? No shot." Annabeth said back, "Leo built the Argo II, Nico led them through the House of Hades, you saved me and Percy at the Parthenon, Ryder gave up everything for us."

The smile suddenly retreated from Annabeth's lips. Talking about Ryder had become almost taboo. It was still an open wound, especially for his old friends.

Ryder's sacrifice was unimaginable to Annabeth. Giving up his mortal life, and then his afterlife, to save the world? Annabeth didn't know if she would have had the courage. It wasn't fair.

Skylar's own smile faded, but not all the way. "I'm sorry. I know –" Annabeth started to apollgize but Skylar waved her off.

"No, it's okay. It sucks, it really does, but I've accepted that he's gone and never coming back." Skylar didn't say anything more for a few minutes. She stared out at the sky.

Annabeth took that time to look around. This swath of Canada remained unblemished by the twenty-first century. Annabeth could count on one hand how many lights she could see below the ship. As a result, the night sky was littered with bright stars. The stars that Bob would never see. Annabeth felt courage drive the fear and sadness out of her. They had to succeed in this quest. No one else was going to die to preserve their world. It wasn't fair, but maybe they can make it better.

"I'm really worried about him." Skylar finally broke the silence.

"Jack?"

"Well, yes, but mainly Dax. Dax gets mad instead of angry, so he doesn't deal with being afraid well at all. But that's what he is right now. He's terrified. Terrified of losing anyone else, especially Jenni. If anything happened to her, I think he might just explode. Ryder… it rattled Dax to his core."

For the first time, Annabeth saw a deep sadness in Skylar's eyes.

"He's always been rash, but now he's gone kind of crazy. He just attacked a goddess with every intention of killing her! He's going to get someone killed." Skylar seemed exasperated, like she had had this argument with Jack more than once without getting the result she wanted, "I don't know how to prove to him that it's okay to be afraid and that Jenni will be safe without a 24/7 bodyguard."

"Me neither." Annabeth said softly.

There weren't any words that fit into the space between the two girls, but silence is fluid, and it contoured itself to drape over them.

"So you and Jack, let me hear the details." Annabeth said.

Some color returned to Skylar's cheeks. The edges of her mouth crept upwards. "Thanks. We met here, on the ship. I don't really know. We just have a strange effect on each other. He gets a little shy around me, which is super adorable. Jack makes my heart leap a little bit. His energy is so contagious and infectious, I can't get enough. We balance each other."

"Balance. I like that," Annabeth smiled again, "That's why opposites attract. It's like a see-saw. Only the perfect weight will keep the see-saw perfectly balanced. Two people need complimenting pieces in order to balance each other."

Skylar laughed loudly. "Sorry, I really like that. It's just I thought that you Athena kids were supposed to have your nose stuck in a book too often to know how the heart works."

Annabeth tried to fake looking offended. "Hey! I leave the library sometimes."

"Only to see Percy!" Skylar teased.

"And to save the world. You'd be surprised how much you can learn doing that a few times." Annabeth said.

Skylar laughed.

Annabeth realized she didn't need to push all the anxious thoughts about the quest out of her mind. She could let them float around her consciousness, but she didn't have to overthink them. Thoughts only had power over her if she let them.

That's when Annabeth knew that everything was going to work exactly the way it was supposed to, regardless of how much she thought about, and that was okay by her.

* * *

A deep breath involuntarily escaped her lips. There was nothing she wanted to do less than open this door and deal the issue on the other side, but she had to, mainly because she was the only one awake, and something had to be done before the next step in the quest.

She knocked softly.

"Come in." A voice called back. She heard no grogginess. He hadn't slept either.

Annabeth opened the door quietly and slipped into the room. Dax was laying on his still made bed throwing a tennis ball up and down to himself.

"I've been waiting all night." Dax said without looking at her.

"You didn't have to go to all that trouble for me." Annabeth replied with a smirk.

Dax ignored her attempt at a joke. "Someone had to come talk to me about today. It's written all over all of your faces. You think I've gone off the deep end."

"I'm not saying any of that. I couldn't sleep and wanted to see if you wanted to talk about anything. Today was stressful." Annabeth said. She sat down on the foot of his bed.

"Don't patronize me." The tennis ball his the ceiling and fell back down.

"I'm not. I'm your sister. That's what family does." Annabeth hadn't really thought about Dax as her brother much. He was much more Percy's sibling than her's. Just then, she became fully aware of it, and that she meant every word she just said. This conversation was bigger than just the quest.

"What do you want to talk about?" Dax's voice was still edgy.

"You," Annabeth was quickly getting tired of this game, "Are you okay?"

"That's such a loaded question."

"That's the point!" Annabeth slapped the tennis ball across the room, "Look at me!"

Dax laid motionless for a few seconds before slowly sitting up. He turned to face Annabeth. His expression was unreadable. He pointed at the still rolling tennis ball. "That wasn't very nice."

"Neither is stabbing a goddess." Annabeth said smugly. She crossed her arms.

"What would you have done? Huh?" Dax stood up, "Let her kill us? We were cornered! We were in a bad situation and I reacted. I got us out."

"The ends can't always justify the means, Dax. You also almost got you and Percy and _Jenni _killed in the process."

"I was protecting her!" Dax was mad now.

"By putting her in more danger?"

Dax clenched his fists, trying not to let his anger boil over. This wasn't the Dax that Annabeth needed to talk to. She had to break through the shell of anger to make any real progress.

"I get it. It was a split second decision in the heat of the moment. But it's your whole attitude. You've gotten jumpy, and really overprotective of Jenni."

"So I shouldn't try to protect my girlfriend?" Dax deflected.

"No, but you weren't like this at Olympus. And Jenni is way stronger now than she was then. She and Skylar are doing great in training. What's changed?" Annabeth kept her voice soft.

"Nothing!"

Annabeth stood up and got in Dax's face. She could see the water in his eyes trembling. She was so close.

"I don't believe you."

Dax was shaking now. He couldn't hold his emotions in for much longer.

Annabeth placed a hand lightly on his elbow. "Dax, let it happen."

He held on for a few more seconds before breaking. Then the floodgates opened. Tears streamed down Dax's cheeks. His body shook even more violently. Annabeth drew him into a hug. Dax held on tight enough that a tornado couldn't rip him off her. They stood there silently for what felt like hours to Annabeth. But she didn't complain, she didn't try to move. She had to wait until Dax was ready.

Eventually, Dax pulled back and dried his face with his shirt. His eyes were puffy and red. They sat back down on the bed.

"Annabeth, I can't lose her. I can't lose anyone else. We fight so hard. I can't let it all be in vain. I won't let anyone else sacrifice themselves for me." Dax's voice was barely audible.

"You won't. Dax I need you to believe me. We are all coming home after this."

"You can't promise me that. After Ryder… I lost the faith that everything will work out."

"No one will let anything happen to her, or you, or me, or anyone. You have to trust me. You have to trust Jenni. You have to trust all of us. Because if you don't, you're going to pull a stunt like today, and someone is going to get hurt. You won't be able to live with that."

Annabeth let that sink in. Dax winced at the prospect of him being the reason that Jenni would get hurt.

"You're right. I know you're right. It's just so hard." Dax choked out.

"I know, but sometimes you have to yield. Sometimes you have to step back and relinquish a little control. Percy had to give Luke the knife to kill Kronos. He had to let me burn through Rome on my own. It's hard, it really is, but I promise it gets easier." Annabeth pulled Dax into another hug.

"Thank you." Dax said sleepily.

Dax went limp in her arms. That kind of emotional release was exhausting, and Dax was sleep-deprived as it was. Annabeth gently laid him down and tucked him into bed.

Annabeth smiled down at her sleeping brother. He looked so peaceful.

Just like Percy had his Achilles' spot despite his otherwise unbeatable invincibility, everyone had a vulnerable spot. It was impossible to be totally invincible. That's why they had a team. Annabeth took the knife to protect Percy. They would all step up to protect Dax.


	4. We Fight Frosty the Snowman

**A/N: Don't worry, we'll be rejoining our other friends shortly. Enjoy and please review about what you think about the story moving forward. Any and all feedback is greatly appreciated! Thanks!**

**We Fight Frosty the Snowman**

The Marathon hovered patiently over the edge of the forest. Where the trees ended, undisturbed snow stretched for miles. In the distance on the river bank, Percy could see the sprawl of Halifax, only now beginning its day, but his eyes barely lingered on it. In front of them rose a solitary structure, a castle, which appeared to be built from solid ice. The ice was unblemished and completely transparent, but it was so thick it distorted whatever it hid. At the castle's base, there was a gap in the ice. Percy could make out a spiral staircase winding upward into the depths of the castle. That was their target.

"I'd bet this is the place." Dax said.

"It looks like the castle from _Frozen_, kind of." Jack said.

"You've seen _Frozen_?" Skylar asked.

"Like six times. I love it." Jack said shamelessly.

"I've never see it." Skylar admitted.

"Are you kidding? Alright, We'll sit this one out and put it on." Jack said happily.

"Not so fast, Jack." Dax said with a smirk. "We're all going this time. We have no idea what's down there."

Annabeth scrunched her eyebrows. "Who's going to watch the ship?"

Dax walked over to the control panel and pushed a big green button. Machines inside the panel began to whir noisily. Two panels slid apart, revealing a shallow opening. Dax reached his hand and produced two small cube, both of which fit in his palm. He hit a button on each one and threw them on the deck. Before they even hit the ground, the cubes began to shift and expand. In less than a minute, two four foot tall robots stood in the middle of their group.

"You guys remember Reggie and Charlie?" Dax asked, "They can pilot and defend the ship."

"They don't look like much." Jack said.

Percy had to agree. They reminded Percy of the hobbits from Lord of the Rings, but with more metal. The only difference between the bots was that one was painted green and the other red. The green one, Reggie, had a frowny face and the red one, Charlie, had a happy face.

Jack reached out and poked Charlie. Immediately it's near hand reconfigured into a dagger and the other into a blowtorch. Charlie puffed a small flame towards Jack.

"_DANGER! DANGER_!" It blurted.

"The cow goes moo!" Reggie added while the bots sized up Jack.

"Threat level… minimal." Charlie said.

"Hey!" Jack cried.

Skylar put a hand on his shoulder. "It's okay, Jack. It's designed to detect _monster_ threats."

If that came out of anyone's mouth but Skylar's, it would have been patronizing.

"I was just kidding." Jack forced a laugh, "I'm not actually offended."

Jack shifted uneasily, his ego still a little wounded. Percy held back laughter. Dax's smirk told him his brother had to do the same.

"Anyway…" Annabeth clapped her hands to get everyone's attention. Gears audibly wound as even the robots listened to her. "How do we get there?" She pointed at the castle of ice.

"Right. _I would not recommend approaching from the air_. Stupid, cryptic gods." Jack muttered.

"Well that one's easy." Dax said as his hands danced across the control panel.

Three more black cubes appeared in his hand. He threw them to the deck. They went through the same metamorphosis process as Reggie and Charlie until three sleek snowmobiles sat on the deck.

"Gassed up and ready to go." Dax smiled like a kid in the candy store.

"What are these super cubes and can we use them for food?" Percy asked.

"Genius." Jack agreed. Annabeth and Skylar rolled their eyes.

"Let's get this over with then. I want hot chocolate and movie night." Jenni said. Skylar nearly swooned at the idea.

Jenni had been so quiet Percy had forgotten she was there. She was still a mystery to him. Some days, she was the brave girl with the penetrating voice, and other times she was as quiet as a mouse. Percy didn't even know if it was a mood thing or not. Maybe wielding that much power with your voice taught her the importance of not being wasteful with it.

Jenni walked over and sat on the snowmobile's seat. "Are you coming?"

Quickly, the other heroes mounted their metal beasts and hit the ignition. The engines purred to life and the whole snowmobile vibrated a little bit.

Percy looked at Dax. His brother's eyes were lit up like an eight-year-old who woke up early on Christmas morning. He revved the engine a few times, his smile growing with the engine's noise.

"Maybe Jenni should drive…" Percy said.

"Sorry, but no." Dax said without tearing his eyes away from his gas-fueled sled. "I've been waiting for this since we built them.

Without another word, Dax depressed the accelerator and flew off the deck – into empty air. The Marathon had to be fifty feet off the ground.

"Is he crazy?" Percy said.

"Yup." Jack said and then shot after him. Skylar screamed with excitement as they left the deck.

"Fine." Percy said.

Suppressing his fear and rational thinking, Percy floored the accelerator.

"This is so not going to work!" Annabeth yelled as their snowmobile entered flight.

Percy's stomach fell out when the deck did. Immediately, they begin to plummet rapidly towards almost certain death. Percy's instinctual fear of heights made him start to panic.

"Percy, do something!" Annabeth yelled over the wind.

They only had a few seconds of airtime until _splat_. Percy quickly scanned the console and found nothing useful, so he decided on his go-to contingency plan: Hit buttons until something happens.

His hands flew across the steering wheel and console. Tiny windshield wipers sprayed and wiped the small visor in front of him. The air conditioning turned on. Why Dax would install A/C in an open-topped, cold-weather vehicle was beyond Percy. Eventually, his hand found a handhold that resembled what movie pilots pulled for ejection. It was probably their only chance. Hopefully they wouldn't be catapulted into the stratosphere.

Percy yanked.

The snowmobile jerked in the air as the bottom of the skis exploded. Giant airbags popped out of the bottoms and began to fill, until the snowmobile was falling on top of a twenty-foot, inflatable, orange pillow.

This was still going to hurt a lot.

"Hold on!" Percy yelled. Annabeth tightened her grip on his waist and buried her face in his back.

Percy tensed for the impact that he now couldn't see coming. He flexed his jaw. How was he supposed to avoid a concussion? Keep his teeth together or apa–

THUMP!

Their air bag connected heavily with the snow-covered ground. The snowmobile sank into it and after a painfully long second of anticipation, rocketed upwards. The snowmobile was still connected to the air bag, so it didn't get very far. Percy and Annabeth, on the other hand, were tossed into the air like ragdolls. Percy let go of Annabeth. Landing on top of each would only make their injuries worse.

Annabeth landed in the middle of the air bag softly. She bounced a few times, but seemed unhurt. Percy wasn't so lucky. He landed on the edge of the air bag and his momentum launched him into the air again, only to finally land on the ground. The snow was not as soft as Percy expected.

"Ow." Percy groaned. His teeth felt like someone had rattled them around in a blender and then put back in his mouth.

Percy sat up and leaned against the air bag. Dax stood over him.

"You were supposed to extend the wings." Dax said like a disappointed parent. He pointed at the air bag, "That's for landing on water."

"I didn't exactly get a chance to look at the YouTube tutorial." Percy said.

Dax climbed onto the air bag and hit a button on the snowmobile. The air bag deflated suddenly. Percy, not realizing what was going to happen, was caught off guard. He fell roughly backwards.

"Thanks for the warning." Percy groaned.

Annabeth walked over to him. "C'mon, Seaweed Brain." She extended her hand and pulled Percy to his feet.

"Come on, drama queens!" Jack cried before taking off towards the castle.

Dax ran back to his snowmobile and went after him.

"Do you want me to drive?" Annabeth joked.

"Ha ha."

They remounted the snowmobile. Percy looked at the console in case they needed to do some fancy maneuvering. Under the steering wheel was a little black button with wings on it. Percy pressed it. Wings started to extend from the sides of the snowmobile. He pressed the button again and they retracted.

"That could have been useful." Annabeth said. Percy could feel her smile into his shoulder.

"No kidding."

On the steering wheel was a bright red button that screamed _FOR EMERGENCY USE ONLY_! The other two motorized sleds were well ahead of them. Percy mentally shrugged. What could possibly go wrong?

Percy didn't regret hitting the red button. What he did regret was screaming like a seven-year-old girl when that button turned out to be the turbo button. The snowmobile shot across the snow like they were fired from the barrel of a tank.

Annabeth and Percy didn't do anything but hang on and scream as they rocketed forward, catching and passing their friends in a matter of seconds. Percy, in his panicked death grip, hadn't even let go of the turbo button. As the initial wave of panic subsided, Percy regained control of his body and turned off Need for Speed mode.

As they approached normal speed, Percy was able to breathe a sigh of relief. He didn't need any more heart attacks on this trip.

They were only about a half of a mile from the castle now. Percy's jaw dropped at its sheer size. At least twenty stories tall, the castle could easily house all of Camp Half-Blood. The morning sun reflected brilliantly off of the ice. The walls and contours looked like they were designed by a world renowned sculptor and built with the world's largest 3D printer. It was, in essence –

"It's perfect." Annabeth said almost instinctually. Yep, that's the word. As an architect, Annabeth was on a whole different level of appreciating the castle than Percy.

Then the snowmobile ran into some obstacle neither of its occupants had seen and flipped over itself. Percy and Annabeth were thrown forward heavily into the snow.

"I'm getting really, really sick of this." Percy grumbled.

"Percy!" Annabeth yelled.

There was no anger in her voice, only worry. That flip was no accident.

In a flash, Percy was on his feet with Riptide drawn. Annabeth was next to him, her white, drakon-bone sword in hand. Where Percy assumed the obstacle that caused there crash had been, the snow was drawing itself together into the shape of human, but much larger. In only a few seconds, a ten foot tall, abominable snowman stood.

"Boreas is a filthy liar." Percy said through clenched teeth.

"Something worse could be in the air." Annabeth said.

"Or it was a trap."

"No, we never fall for those."

Percy involuntarily smiled. The nervous anxiety that filled him in front of this new enemy dissipated. As if a big ball of snow could beat him and Annabeth. No one could beat Percy Jackson and Annabeth Chase together. Percy's smile broadened.

"Bring it on, Frosty!" Percy taunted.

Frosty looked them both over for a few seconds. It didn't have eyes, only eye sockets, so Percy didn't know what their new friend was looking at. Then Frosty roared and clomped towards them. Behind the creature, snow was gathering together to form more battle snowmen.

"Incoming!" Dax's voice called from behind Percy.

Without thinking, Percy grabbed Annabeth around the waist and leapt as far as he could to the right. They landed heavily in the snow.

Where they had just been standing, Dax's snowmobile cruised through with a newly attached plow. Percy shook his head. Dax put so much effort into these impressive gadgets as if the heroes weren't going to trash them.

Dax rammed Frosty in the leg, and the monster's leg disintegrated. Frosty toppled forward with a thud, then tried to get up.

Percy ran forward. He raised Eiptide and stabbed Frosty in the center of his body. At first nothing happened. Could a monster made of snow and ice disintegrate? It should be the same concept of storm spirits. If Percy could stab wind, then he could stab snow. When he thought about it like that, the whole thing sounded ridiculous.

Frosty whimpered, like a delayed reaction to the stabbing, and then disintegrated into golden snow-dust. Mystery solved.

Behind Frosty, at least twenty more snowmen had finished forming. Percy couldn't tell if there were more behind them.

Six arrows flew over Percy's head and impaled the nearest Frosty. He immediately disintegrated. Another stepped up to take its place. _At least they're easy to kill_.

Frosties 3 through 8 disintegrated under plows and treads. 9, 10, and 11 fell to arrows. Skylar tricked 12 and 13 into killing each other.

There was never any real danger, until Frosty number 20. This Frosty was as tall as an eighteen wheeler, wore armor, and wielded a six foot long sword made of ice. Of course, a fresh wave of ten more normal Frosties joined him.

"We shouldn't get the snowmobiles too close to the big one." Annabeth said.

"Yeah. Let's spread out, they are super slow." Jenni said.

"Slow," Jack said, as if deeply pondering the word, "I can work with slow."

Then he took off at super speed, slashing at the snow giants' legs and arms.

"I think that's our cue." Percy said and ran right at the warrior snowman.

The battle became a blur. Percy ran, spun, and slashed his way through Frosty after Frosty, but the tide never ended. At first, no one dealt with Big Frosty head on. Jack hit him with arrows. Dax would slash him in the back of the legs and run away. Percy knew that killing him would end this fight. In his gut he knew it.

Frosty 65, or so it seemed, fell to Riptide, and then Percy was face to face with the warrior. Percy gulped. This close, the ice sword was much more intimidating. This was not going to be easy.

Big Frosty attacked first. Percy rolled under the swipe and stabbed the monster in the leg. Unfazed, Big Frosty kicked Percy and sent him sprawling ten feet away. Quicker than his brethren, Big Frosty lumbered forward and tried to finish Percy off.

Percy dove out of the way just in time. The ice sword stabbed two feet into the ground. Percy did not want to see what that would do to a body.

This was not an enemy he could take on his own. Big Frosty was simply too big, and too armored for him to do any real damage one on one.

Percy scanned the battlefield. Dax was ten feet from the backside of Big Frosty. He disintegrated another snow monster.

"Dax!" The other boy turned around. Percy dodged another attack, "Help me out over here!"

Dax took a second to gauge the rest of the battle. His eyes went wide, and he stopped in his tracks. Percy followed his gaze. Jenni and Skylar were fighting back to back, taking on six or seven Frosties. Jack was running around as usual. Annabeth was fighting towards the pair.

Dax took one step towards Jenni. "Dax!" Percy yelled.

Jenni was in danger. It was fair for Dax to be concerned. But Percy was in way more danger! Skylar and Jenni could handle themselves, and Annabeth was right there. Dax had to let it go. He had to let her take care of herself.

Percy rolled under the ice sword, stabbed Big Frosty, and jumped to avoid being kicked again.

"Dax, I need you!"

Dax looked back and forth between Jenni and Percy. Annabeth had told Percy about her conversation with Dax the night before. Annabeth seemed to think that she had made a breakthrough. This was the test.

Big Frosty came at Percy again, but this time he cut off the angle. Percy brought up his sword and blocked the next attack. The sheer force behind the blow knocked Percy over backwards. He rolled backward to avoid the death blow.

"Dax! Please!" Percy's voice cracked. Charmspeak would be fantastic right now.

Dax looked away from Percy again, but not at Jenni. He looked at Annabeth, then Percy, and then Annabeth again. Dax swallowed. He seemed to have realized something in that moment. Maybe he saw Annabeth and Percy fighting separately, trusting each other to be safe. Maybe he saw Annabeth going to Jenni's rescue. Percy didn't care what made Dax do it. Percy only cared that Dax ran forward and plunged _In Memorium_ hilt-deep into the back of Big Frosty's leg.

Big Frosty cried out in surprise and swung around. Dax ducked the ice sword, rolled to the side, and attacked the other leg.

Percy ran forward and jumped into the air. Riptide came up and cut right through the oversized snowball that was the monster's hand. The ice sword fell to the ground and disintegrated.

Dax stabbed the monster's leg again. Big Frosty fell to one knee. "You learn that trick from me?"

"You wish." Percy used the outstretched knee as a springboard and jumped up. Riptide sliced through Big Frosty's army and the monster disintegrated.

Now six feet off the ground with too much forward momentum, Percy tumbled forward and fell face first into the snow.

He jumped to his feet, ready for another attack, but none came. The other Frosties all disintegrated. Percy's shoulders slumped in relief.

Percy turned to his brother. "Nice job. Thanks, bro." Percy extended his fist.

Dax fist-bumped him. "Anytime. Thank you."

But Dax wasn't looking at him, he wasn't thanking Percy. Percy turned to see Annabeth walk up behind him. She smiled knowingly. Again, Percy didn't care. They were alive.

"Let's go meet our new friend and thank him for these great toys we got to play with." Jack came to a skidding stop next to Dax. "It might turn out to be _friends_! I'm just nauseous with excitement."

They all laughed a little bit at his sarcasm, but it was forced. That ice was hiding something, something with an ugly side.

Percy turned around and reexamined the beautiful ice castle, which all of a sudden seemed to tower ominously over them.


	5. Winks and Drinks

**A/N: Sorry for a bit of a cliffhanger. Time to check in on our other heroes. Thanks for reading and enjoy!**

**Winks and Drinks**

The wind whipped through Piper's hair as she stood at the bow of the _Hephaestus_. The boys were below deck playing some video game that Keenan had rigged. Jason called it PercyBall or something like that. Piper had a feeling that Percy would not enjoy the game.

So she had gladly taken Frank's watch. The day was too beautiful to miss even a minute of it.

There wasn't a cloud in the deep blue sky. The sun beat down, but Piper didn't mind the extra heat. After only a few hours, she could see a hint of bronze creep into her skin. Piper never got sunburned with her Native American genes.

By their standards, the trip had been remarkably quiet so far. Jason had dispatched a group of ambitious storm spirits off the coast of Florida. A few nosey gryphons were dealt with over Cuba. But that was it. _It couldn't possibly last_. Piper fought to suppress the pessimism that threatened to ruin her mood.

"Hey Piper!"

Hazel skipped over to stand next to her.

"What's up, Hazel?"

Hazel looked about as happy as Piper felt, which was good. Piper knew that Hazel was having a rough time just before they embarked on the quest. The space that Leo left in their little group was still weird and present. Then Nico disappeared without a word and never came back. Hazel was clearly very worried about him.

Piper wished she and Hazel were better friends. Piper grew so close to Annabeth during the war with Gaea that she hadn't really reached out to be super close with Hazel. She felt bad. Every girl needed girlfriends.

"Nothing. Just kind of bored. They always play that stupid game."

"At least it's a gorgeous day to be bored." Piper said.

Hazel seemed to be watching the ocean whip by below them instead of the sky. "What do you think the others are doing right now?"

"The boys are probably arguing about their favorite food while their girlfriends second guess their relationships." Piper said with a grin.

Hazel laughed. "Or the girls are rescuing them from some monster den they fell into."

"While still second guessing their relationships."

The girls stood there enjoying the sun and joking for close to an hour when they spotted land.

"Venezuela." Piper said.

The ship rapidly closed the distance to the coast of South America. Luscious green rain forests spread out behind the beach as far as Piper could see. The beach appeared to be abandoned.

"Should we get the boys?" Hazel asked.

"Let them have their fun. We'll be busy enough soon." Piper answered.

The closer they got to the beach the hotter the sun seemed to get. In minutes the girls were sweating profusely.

"This is so not normal." Piper commented.

"Monster?" Hazel asked.

"I'm not sure."

By now they were close enough to the beach to make out timber that had washed ashore from shipwrecks. There was no sign of civilization in sight.

"Whoa, are we slowing down?" Hazel asked.

Piper hadn't been paying attention, but Hazel was right. The _Hephaestus_ was coming to a slow stop right over the beach. The boys apparently didn't even notice, because none of them came running up to see what was going on. Probably too wrapped up in their video game. Typical.

"Come over here." Hazel called.

Piper walked to the other side of the bow. Below them, a guy in a bright yellow bathing suit was sitting in a beach chair. He was holding one of those I'm-asking-for-third-degree-burns tanning mirrors Piper only saw in old movies. The sun reflected off the mirror so intensely she couldn't make out his face.

The man waved and then flicked his wrist. The ladder flew off the deck and cascaded to the beach.

"Weird," Hazel said, "First trap of the quest?"

"I'll get the boys." Piper groaned.

"Wait a second," Hazel said with a smile, "We got this. Girl power."

The girls high-fived and climbed down the ladder to meet their new friend.

"Good afternoon ladies!" The man said, "It's a pleasure to finally meet you."

Their new friend got up out of their chair and walked over to Piper and Hazel.

Piper realized he wasn't a man, but more like an early-twenties frat guy. His hair was long and blond. He vaguely reminded Piper of Thor in that new movie, but the similarities ended at his hair. The guy was muscular, but fairly lean and about average height.

He smiled, and Piper had to look away. His teeth shone as brightly as Apollo's.

When Piper looked back, the man had removed his Raybans shades to reveal his eyes. They were a fiery gold. Just like Ryder's. _And Titans'_.

Piper unsheathed Katoptris.

"Who are you?" she asked accusingly.

The man only smiled at her. "Piper Mclean, put that away!" he said it like it was an old joke between them, "You'll be back on your ship in no time. Please, humor me."

He snapped his fingers. A beach chair like his appeared behind each of the girls and a pina colada appeared in their hands.

Their new friend sat back down in his chair and took a sip of his own drink.

"Kick back and enjoy," he said, "I invented that drink."

Piper and Hazel exchanged a glance before sitting down. They both hesitated to drink.

"Don't worry, it's a virgin colada. I assure you." He smiled and Piper had to look away again.

"Okay, I'll bite. You know my name and you know I'm not twenty-one. Who are you?" Piper asked. Her tone was still harsh.

The gold eyes danced back and forth between the girls. Piper let her guard down a little. She had a feeling that if this guy wanted them dead, then they'd already be halfway to Tartarus.

"I'm Helios, god of the Sun." He smiled again, and Piper had to force herself to stare at his eyes.

"No," Hazel said, "Apollo is the sun god."

"Yeah," Piper continued, "You faded."

"I prefer the term retired. Yes, the Romans downsized Selene and me, but I still have a Latin name, Sol. You mortals named your solar system after me."

"I don't understand." Piper said.

"Well, it goes something like this. The Romans and the later Greeks rolled most of my duties over to Apollo, but only the duties. I remained the personification of the sun for them. I am the sun's light. Wherever day is, so am I!"

"And now you sit alone on a Venezuela beach?" Hazel asked.

Helios laughed. "South America is great! They love the sun more than anyone else, and they are way more relaxed than you Americans. More my style. In truth, I was happy to give Apollo most of the responsibilities. Most of the time I like Rio, but I heard your little crew was heading that way. You have a reputation for blowing things up and beating up gods. I'd rather not be in your way. But this beach? I just wanted to chat with you two."

"Okay, before you do your god-thing and give us a really vague hint and maybe ask for a favor, I have one question." Piper said sternly.

Helios laughed again, "Why, Piper Mclean you are bright! That's the highest compliment I can give, you know," the god winked, "Go ahead. Ask away!"

Piper was doing her best to be as serious as possible, but she was finding it incredibly difficult. Helios' presence was too warm, too penetrating. She could sit on this beach and drink pina coladas for hours. He was very similar to Apollo, but a bit in a more carefree and secure way.

"What did you mean when you said it's a pleasure to finally meet you?"

Helios' smile dampened a bit. "Well, you just hit Double Jeopardy there, Piper. Two answers for one question! Firstly, they once called me _Helios Panoptes_. I don't suppose you know what that means."

"All-seeing." Hazel answered.

The god's smile broadened again. "Yes, quite. Well done, Hazel Levesque." Helios paused to examine the girls again, "I see all that the sun touches. As for the other answer. I cannot say much, but you would do well to remember that I am older than the Olympians, except for Aphrodite that is," he winked at Piper again, "There were means to prophecies and seeing the future before Apollo and his Oracle. That job fell to Koios and I, and one other, but we were much more reliable. Anyway, your parents believed that Gaea was the final chapter, as it was before. Sometimes, though, history doesn't repeat itself. Sometimes it finds a new path. But we saw it, Koios and I. Well, at least some of it. I knew the two of you would come, and he knew where the others would go."

Piper thought that sounded pretty ominous, but Helios seemed to still be in good spirits.

"Anyhow!" the god continued, "I have a few words and a gift."

Helios rummaged around in his pocket and produced what looked like a dog whistle. He handed it to Piper, looking pleased with himself.

"Piper, you will know when the time is right to use this. One of your friends will remember the story, I'm sure. Be careful not to blow it too soon though. Sometimes, the hunt is not important because of the kill, but because of where it takes you. But don't blow it too late either, because… well you demigods know even better than I what usually happens then."

Helios grin faded completely. The fire in his eyes dimmed a little.

"And Piper, I would like to thank you."

"For what, sir?" Piper was genuinely curious.

"For being with my brother at the end. He was a fantastic boy." Helios nodded solemnly at Piper.

"Yeah, Ryder was special." Piper replied sadly.

"I hadn't seen him since he was a baby. You see, I was the one who delivered him to Hermes. I didn't want Dad to find him, but no matter. We don't have time to dwell on these things, fortunately or unfortunately. It won't be long now."

"What won't be long?" Hazel asked.

"Oh, Hazel I almost forgot." Helios grew even more serious, "When you see your brother, tell him it will not work. Tell him that nothing can wash away feelings. They will only be renewed again like fresh wounds. Memory is the key."

Helios patted Hazel on the shoulder sympathetically. She looked terribly confused and very scared.

Helios looked at his wrist, where he wore a sundial as a watch. "Oh dear. I must be going. Remember Piper, not too early, and not too late," he winked for what seemed like the hundredth time, "Tell my daughter I said hello and good luck! I'll be watching."

"Who's your daughter?" Piper asked.

"Piper!"

"Hazel!"

The two girls shot to their feet and turned around. Jason, Frank, and Keenan were leaning over the railing.

"What are you guys doing down there?" Frank asked.

Piper stole a look behind her. Helios and his beach chairs were gone. One empty pina colada glass lay on its side in the sand. The sunlight seemed to twinkle off the glass, like Helios was winking at her one last time.

They'd gotten some kind of answer, even if it was incredibly vague. But that last part worried Piper. Helios' daughter?

What had he said? _Wherever day is, so am I_!

They were supposed to rescue a daughter of Day. At least they had an idea of who they were rescuing, maybe. The where, how, and why were still totally up in the air.

_We'll worry about it when we get to Rio._

"We were just –" Piper started.

She didn't get the chance to finish her sentence, because a huge form chose that moment to burst out of the surf and onto the beach in front of her.

_If we get to Rio._


	6. We Make Calamari for the Last Time

**A/N: Happy holidays! Thanks for reading and enjoy! Any feedback is greatly appreciated.**

**We Make Calamari for the Last Time**

_If we get to Rio._

Piper didn't have time for more than that one thought before she was moving. Massive tentacles rose out of the water in front of her. One reached up and slammed into the hull of the Hephaestus. A few wooden planks bent but held. The attack thankfully sent the ship rocking out of range of any more damge.

Piper barely had time to register that because another tentacle was rapidly falling towards her and Hazel. They both leapt out of the way. Hazel fell and Piper quickly hoisted her up. They each drew their blades and waited for the next attack.

With a lurch, the monster was halfway out of the surf and onto the beach. Piper almost laughed. After all the misshapen, weird, or otherworldly creatures they had battled, the monster challenging them now was a familiar one. A giant squid, just like the ones every kid in third grade learns about in science class, waved its tentacles at them. The urge to laugh faded after Piper realized how much emphasis her teacher should have placed on _giant_.

Each tentacle had to be over thirty feet long. Suckers were spaced evenly every few feet. A gleaming tooth protruded from each one. Even though the body was still partially submerged, Piper could tell it was so big that she wasn't sure that she and her five companions could encircle it while holding hands.

The squid spread its tentacles, revealing a gaping mouth riddled with row after row of sharp teeth. Piper shivered. She had no intention of experiencing what the world's largest natural blender could do. The stench that floated towards her made her gag, and she was still twenty feet away. The creature emitted a sickening moan and raised some of its tentacles for an attack.

A large black dragon swooped over the squid. It dodged one tentacle, clawed another, and scorched a third with its flame breath. Frank was ready to party.

Jason landed heavily next to Piper.

"Hey, you alight?" he said as he drew his sword.

Piper sent up a silent prayer that Jason and Frank were with her on this trip. Any of their other friends would have been stuck on their ship until it could land, and Piper knew that Keenan would never risk that.

"Fine. That wasn't as close as it looked." Piper replied. She wasn't trying to act tough. Jason worried about her a lot, but he trusted her, which was all Piper really wanted. So she reassured him whenever she could.

"What were you guys doing down here?" Jason asked.

"We'll explain after this is over," Piper gestured towards the squid, who was totally focused on Frank the dragon at the moment, "Speaking of which, how do we kill it?"

"Keenan's getting the ballistae fired up. We have to keep it distracted until then." Jason explained.

"Always the fun jobs. What if the cannons don't kill it?" Jason shot her a look that said: _they better_. "Okay then, let's get distracting."

Piper sprinted towards the squid waving Katroptris in the air. "Hey, you smelly sea monster! Go back to the bottom of the ocean where no one can see how ugly you are!"

The closer Piper got to the squid, the more ridiculous she felt. The monster could easily squish them on the ground. Distracting the squid implied they had another available course of action. They were just trying to stay alive.

Piper rolled to her left to dodge another tentacle strike. The limb landed heavily, kicking sand up into the air. Piper nearly fell from the earth shaking.

Jason fell out of the sky and plunged his sword into the grounded tentacle. The strike didn't seem to hurt the squid as much as it did anger and panic him. The tentacle began writhing furiously. Jason couldn't remove his blade while being whipped around in the air. With a few more thrusts, the squid dislodged Jason, but not his sword. Jason steadied himself in the air, but he was without a weapon. Now he was more of an elusive toy than a threat to the squid.

"This isn't working!" Jason yelled.

"Thanks for the update!" Piper yelled back.

The Fates evidently thought Jason was ungrateful for his misfortune, because they decided to tip the scales farther in favor of their deaths. On either side of the squid, a squadron of thirty telekhines burst out of the surf.

"This was _so_ not in the contract." Hazel muttered as she skidded to a halt next to Piper.

"You signed a contract?" Piper joked, "I don't even get health benefits. All I got is this whistle."

Frank the dragon ignored the squid to help deal with the new threat. Folding his wings, Frank plummeted towards the earth. He landed right in the middle of one monster unit, flattening half of them on impact. He swung his tail and knocked over another five seal demons. A healthy dose of fire breath took care of the rest.

Jason was floating around the squid's arms, doing his best to use the winds to direct tentacles away from Frank and get close enough to retrieve his still embedded sword.

"C'mon Hazel. Frank did that, and he doesn't even have thumbs." Piper prodded.

"I mean flaming breath makes that kind of a wash. Don't you think?"

"Oh, shut up." Piper said through her laughter.

The two girls charged at the other group of telekhines, happy to have an enemy they could handle. As Piper deflected one monster's spear, Hazel stabbed it with her gladius. Piper spun around her and decapitated another.

The Hephaestus' ballista coughed. A missile trailing the green flames of Greek fire flew over Piper's head. It connected with a tentacle and exploded. One half of the limb was sent flying and disintegrated before hitting the ground. The squid screeched. Piper had to resist the urge to cover her ears so she could block another attack.

Three more missiles streaked towards the squid. Two more tentacles were destroyed. The third missile struck the squid just above its red eye. When the smoke cleared, Piper could see the Greek fire had left a large crater in the monster's head.

The squid went into a panic. Its tentacles began to wave madly in the air. Frank was accidently hit in the side and knocked to the ground. The giant squid quickly retreated into the waves, screaming in pain the whole way.

Frank slowly got to his feet and shifted into a bull. With a little help, Piper and Hazel were able to quickly finish off the remaining telekhines.

A quick lift from Jason and Frank had all four heroes back on the deck of the ship in no time.

"Hey Keegs, you might want to fix the ballista so it warms up a bit quicker." Frank said with a laugh. He winced and rubbed his side. Hazel wrapped an arm around his waist.

Keenan looked at the big cannon and frowned. "There's something wrong with the loading belt. Sorry, I'll have it ready soon."

The son of Hephaestus didn't seem to take the joke as insult, but Keenan was still clearly upset with himself. This was the first time Piper had seen something the boy built fail. Keenan held very high expectations of himself.

"Don't worry about it, Connor. You blasted that squid with plenty of time to spare." Piper tried to cheer him up.

Keenan turned back to the group, but the frown was still there. "Still, that was too close of a call for a monster that stupid."

No one disagreed. The first real challenge of the quest nearly knocked the ship out of commission – and the squid wasn't even really part of the quest. The encounter was just bad luck.

"By the way, Piper, we really have to work on your trash talk. Leo would be very disappointed in you." Frank said.

"Well, aren't you full of jokes today, Frank Zhang." Piper replied. That was the closest thing she could think of to a comeback. It was hard to make jokes at Frank – even though Percy seemed adept at it. Frank was too nice, and lately had proven himself more than capable as a valuable asset to the team. Piper continued, "But can we all agree that calamari is off the menu?"

"You really didn't have to ask." Keenan replied dryly.

"I bet Percy would still eat it." Hazel said.

Jason, who was leaning against the railing, looked overboard and his eyes went wide. He spun around. "Keenan. Up! Up! Now!"

Trusting his friend, Keenan ran to the helm. But it was too late. Before his hands were around the steering wheel, two purple tentacles draped themselves over the railings on both sides of the ship. Hazel ran to the side and plunged her blade into the end of one. The tentacle shuddered, but didn't release its grip. If the squid was back, it was furious and bent on revenge. No way would it give up so easily.

"Frank, get in the cannon!" Piper called. Even if Frank, shifted into dragon form, he wouldn't be able to do enough damage fast enough to save the ship. Piper wasn't even sure the ballista could aim at the squid if it was directly under them.

Piper's eyes scoured the deck, looking for anything they could use. Rope – useless. Anchor – too slow and might just make the monster even more mad. Box – useless. _Wait_. Piper ran towards the ballista.

"It's right below us. I can't get an angle!" Frank cried from behind the cannon.

Piper didn't have the time to respond. _ Oh gods, please be in here_. She threw open the box at the base of the ballista. Sure enough, at its bottom sat two glass jars of Greek fire, ready to be mounted on missiles. Piper gently picked one up and spun around.

"Jason!" Piper called and threw the _glass_ jar of undousable fire across the wooden deck. In hindsight, it was definitely not her best idea. Luckily Jason had quick reflexes. Piper wasn't sure if he used the wind to make the catch easier, but it didn't matter. Jason knew what he had to do. As soon as the jar was settled in his hands, he turned and leapt off the deck.

Piper ran to the railing. Like a human rocket, Jason plummeted towards the squid, who, in typical idiotic monster fashion, opened his mouth wide in anticipation of an easy meal. 50 Cent couldn't have missed with his infamous first pitch at Yankee Stadium.

Only feet from the razor teeth, Jason threw the jar of Greek fire down the monster's throat. Using the winds, he propelled himself upward. But that's all Piper saw, because the jar detonated deep inside the squid's maw. The explosion of fire and cloud of smoke hid Jason from her view. The squid shrieked again and finally disintegrated.

The smoke quickly settled, but there was no sign of Jason. The water was still choppy from the concussion blast, but Piper should have been able to make out a floating boyfriend. Her heart started sprinting around her ribcage.

Jason couldn't have gotten hurt. The quest was only just starting. It was a stupid giant squid for Hades sake. How did the great Jason Grace die? At the hands of the Titan Krios? No. Crushed under the foot of the rising Earth Mother? No. Blowing himself up with a giant squid in Venezuela? Bingo.

Piper was about to tell Frank to turn into a sea otter or dolphin or something and go look for Jason when a mop of blonde hair burst through the waves. Jason emerged, breathing heavily. He stayed put, treading water and catching his breath for a few seconds. Still, no one on deck spoke.

Jason stuck one arm into the air. He was clutching the sword that he had accidentally gotten stuck in the squid. He started waving it in the air like he had just won the Stanley Cup.

"I got my sword back!" He called out.

Everyone on board except Piper started to laugh. Piper was going to tell Jason exactly where he could sheath it.


	7. It's All Fun and Games Until

**A/N: Happy new year everyone! Kicking it off with a long chapter to start moving us along. Enjoy!**

**It's All Fun and Games Until...**

Gravel crunched under Jason as he landed softly on the ground. He loosened his grip on Piper's waist and she stepped away from him. With a much louder crunch, Frank the dragon landed next to him. Hazel and Keenan slid off of his back.

The sheer size of the building in front of him made Jason stop in his tracks. The main stadium build for the World Cup in Rio de Janeiro was as massive as it was modern, with sleek dividers between stories and large glass windows showcasing the now deserted grandstands and luxury boxes. Someone could have told Jason this was a modern day temple to the gods, and if Jason didn't know any better, he would have believed them wholeheartedly. _The soccer gods must be incredibly rich_.

Jason looked at the tunnel entrance to the stadium, who's visibly silent, shadowy interior forecasted the eerie emptiness of the stadium it led to. Jason gulped. He really had no idea what was waiting for him at the other end of the title. His best guess was maybe, and he really, really had to emphasize maybe, a daughter of Helios, an allegedly faded god, who was somehow wrapped up in their quest to defeat some mysterious yet definitely evil and world-threatening. Was he emphasizing how little they had to go on enough? Probably not.

"If anyone has any objections as to why this quest should not proceed, speak now or forever hold your peace." Jason muttered.

Piper giggled. "C'mon superman."

The crew of the Hephaestus passed through the dark tunnel into what a few months ago had been a thriving soccer stadium. In the stands, Jason could imagine the tens of thousands of screaming, face-painted fans who had come from all over the world to see their countries' best athletes. Most went home disappointed.

Now, the stands were empty, silent. The field was dried out, the grass was yellow and dead. One goalpost was totally demolished while the other had been tipped onto its side. Around the edges of the field tons of tan sacks were scattered.

Of course, Jason didn't know a lick about soccer. Besides, while Germany was trouncing Brazil earlier in the summer, Jason was clinging to the back of Festus the dragon with Leo and Piper. He had no memory of who he was but was fighting for his life against an unknown enemy and her minions. The only difference now was that Jason had recovered his memories – he subconsciously glanced at Piper with a smile – and made some new ones along the way.

As they walked towards the center of the field, Jason noticed a variety of strange footprints. Each one was at least three times as big as his own foot, but that was the problem. Each "set" of footprints only consisted of one print. It had to be some weird monopedal monster. Jason wasn't sure if that was funny or scary.

Frank and Keenan started kicking a half-flat soccer ball back and forth as they walked. Jason wanted to tell them to stay focused, but he didn't have the heart. He knew they could snap into battle mode at the drop of a coin.

Jason smiled at Hazel. She was staring in awe of the sheer size of the stadium. Jason doubted she'd ever seen a stadium that could hold hundreds of thousands of people back in the forties.

"I'm afraid you all are too late to compete in the games, young heroes," A voice thundered. Jason wondered if some monster had gotten the intercom system working, "Fear not! I have a new game for you."

A rumble echoed out of the central tunnel, only a hundred yards in front of them. A huge form lumbered forward into the arena. The man was at least ten feet tall. Jason had never seen even a picture of anyone so muscular. He had shoulders chiseled like boulders and thighs as thick as tree trucks. Veins and muscles threatened to explode with even the slightest motion.

"And you would be?" Piper called out.

"I am Kratos, god of strength and power." He puffed out his chest proudly.

Kratos wore only the bottom part of a gold tunic, and with good reason. Jason was confident the guy could rip a Kevlar shirt just by waving his arm.

"Aren't you a video game character?" Frank asked.

Kratos roared. "That blasted game is NOTHING! Do you see chains wrapped around my wrists? NO! Huge purple tattoos? NO! Unexplainable face scars? NO!" Kratos had to catch his breath, "The creators of that game took some creative liberties with my appearance, and they failed to capture my strength."

"Doesn't the video-game Kratos end up killing, like, all the gods with his strength?" Keenan piped up.

In response, Kratos growled and turned around. He ripped a school bus sized chuck out of the wall and launched it out of the stadium.

"He was not kidding." Frank said as he tracked the projectile until it went out of sight.

Jason put his hands up in the air. "Whoa, buddy, take it easy with that 'roid rage!"

"Steroids!" the god yelled like if he couldn't believe what he just heard, "I curse anyone who uses those heinous pills, especially you Schwarzenegger! I'm sure you've heard of some of the rather… limiting side-effects." Kratos flashed a wicked smile. Jason made a mental note to make sure Butch was not taking steroids.

"But enough of your stalling!" Kratos boomed, "Let's play!"

His voice echoed powerfully off the stadium walls. The broken goalpost repaired itself while the overturned goal flew back to its normal position. The ball Frank and Keenan were kicking filled to what Jason could only assume was optimal pressure for soccer.

"Soccer?" Hazel said.

"And we play by the rules," Kratos yelled back, "No handballs!"

Their weapons, even the sheathed ones, clattered to the ground. Jason had a feeling they would be stuck there even if they tried to pick them up.

Around the field, what Jason thought were tan sacks of whatever was left over from the Olympics started to move. One prone figure hoped up on its single foot, then another, and before long there were twenty or thirty of them hopping towards Jason. He still didn't know whether to laugh or be very afraid.

"Sciapods," said Frank, "Grandmother told me about them once. Romans discovered them when they traveled to Persia and India."

"Dangerous?" asked Keenan.

As if it wanted to answer his question, the fastest sciapod reached their group. It paused for a moment in front of the soccer ball to curiously examine the demigods. The sciapod was about Jason's height, with a slightly larger head than the average human. Its single leg was wide and muscular. Jason's estimate of the footprints was way off. The monster's foot had to be at least five or six times as big as his own.

The sciapod let out a guttural cry and then blasted the soccer ball at Keenan. The ball connected with his midsection with a painful _THUD_! Keenan fell to one knee, the wind knocked out of him. Jason hoisted him up by the arm and started backing away from the other monsters, who were now hooting and hollering as they closed in.

"Frank!" Jason yelled.

"Way ahead of you," Frank replied as he shifted into an elephant and barreled into the hopping enemies. Piper and Hazel ran after him ducking massive feet and launching kicks of their own. Jason had to stop himself from laughing when Frank sent the one-legged creatures flying. Leo would've been hollering himself at the sounds they were making.

_WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO – CRUNCH_! echoed as a monster soared twenty feet in the air and crashed into what used to be a snack bar. It emerged from the wreckage covered in soda and exploded Twinkies. An upside down popcorn bowl had landed on the poor guy's head. He looked like a very disturbing lamp. Jason couldn't suppress his laughter when it blindly hopped into the side of the arena and fell over.

"Laugh now, demigod," Kratos said as he walked to the center of the field, "But this game will be decided by penalty kicks."

Kratos bent over and ripped up an SUV sized chuck of earth and placed it at his feet. Looking around, Jason realized he and Keenan were standing where a goalie would in front of the net.

"Uh oh," muttered Keenan.

"Dive!" Jason yelled back.

Jason threw Keenan away from the net and then leapt in the other direction. Kratos kicked the homemade ball right where the demigods were just standing. It sailed through the air and demolished the goalpost.

"You demigods need to try harder. Didn't I tell you what the prize is if you win?" The god grinned evilly.

All five heroes surrounded Kratos now. Frank had dispatched the last of their one-legged friends.

Kratos clapped his hands heavily. The stadium rumbled and creaked. The center of the field split open like a gate. A crane's arm lifted a cage out of the hole and deposited it next to the god. Inside the cage was a girl. She had blond hair the color of the sun and deeply tanned skin. Jason didn't really know what a Brazilian girl looked like, but he was pretty confident she was the epitome of it.

"Let me out of here, you traitor!" The girl cried.

"Watch your tongue, girl. The more of that I hear the worse it'll be for you once I dispose of these so-called heroes."

"Kratos the Traitor has a nice ring to it. Don't you think, Hazel?" Piper yelled.

Kratos growled and swung angrily at her. Piper rolled under his fist and ran through his legs towards Jason.

"Oh, yes," Hazel answered, "That would look great on your resume."

"Maybe even better on your tombstone!" Frank added before shifting into a bull.

The god lifted a rock and tossed it at Hazel. Keenan tackled her out of the way with plenty of time to spare. Frank charged Kratos but bounced off the god's leg without doing any real damage.

"How do we beat strength?" Piper asked Jason.

"We can outsmart him." Jason offered.

"No Annabeth or Dax." Piper vetoed.

"We can outrun him." Jason tried again.

"No Jack."

Frank ran over to them, "Hades, feels like this guy is made out of rock. I'll be sore for a week from that one hit."

Jason turned to Piper just in time to see the light bulb go off in her eyes.

"Guys, what beats rock?" Piper asked with a knowing smile.

"Like rock, paper, scissors?" Frank asked. Piper nodded.

"Paper, duh." Frank answered.

"Right!" Piper squealed, "But why?"

"Paper smothers rock. The rock can't do anything." Jason answered.

"Eureka!" Pipe yelled, "Ew, I sounded like Leo. You guys distract him!"

Piper ran towards the center of the field calling for Hazel. Frank shifted into a cheetah and tore at the god. Kratos howled in pain as Frank raked his leg with sharp claws. Frank was too fast for Kratos to smash.

Hazel opened the ground to reveal some kind of tunnel. The two girls leapt into the darkness. Jason wanted to yell _be careful!_ or even better to go with them, but he knew Piper would kick his butt. Piper had come a long way since the Grand Canyon. She was strong, smart, and she was as good of a fighter as any of them now. Jason smiled proudly.

His eyes fixed on the caged girl that Kratos, in his anger, had totally forgotten about. Jason ran towards her. Hopefully the big guy was too focused on Frank and Keenan. Even without his battle axe, Keenan was doing a good job battling the god. He produced little black spheres from his pocket and hurled them at Kratos.  
The spheres exploded into Celestial Bronze shrapnel, which peppered Kratos and cut gashes in his skin. Little bits of ichor dripped down his arms and chest. After a few seconds of floating in the air, the shrapnel and dust pulled itself back into a black sphere again and returned to Keenan's hand. They were like boomerang grenades. Jason tried a few combinations of those words to make a cool sounding name but came up with nothing. He cursed. Stupid ADHD.

Jason slowed down as he neared the cage.

"Can I get a hand over here?" The girl asked impatiently.

"Okay. Do you know how to open it?" Jason asked.

"If I knew that would I be in here?" The girl glared at Jason.

_Okay, she's impossible. This'll be fun_, Jason thought.

"It's enchanted," she explained, "I can't use my powers inside it."

"Was that so hard to start with?" She stuck her tongue out at him. "Lucky for you, my powers work fine out here. Back away from the bars."

The girl didn't move. _Fine. It's your funeral_.

Jason took a few steps backward and pointed his sword at the cage. Channeling his energy, a bolt of lightning reached down from the sky. The cage deflected the bolt right back at Jason, who was knocked onto his back.

Climbing back to his feet, Jason started to get mad. His chest burned where he was blasted. His armor was charred and smoking. He fixed his eyes on the caged girl.

"Any more bright ideas, Sparky?" She asked innocently.

The hairs along Jason's arms bristled. _The nerve of this girl!_

"You want to play games? Fine," Jason's tone was icy, "But first tell me about the big guy here. Why did you call him a traitor?"

The girl looked at the god who was doing his best to corner Frank the cheetah. "Kratos, the god of strength, is the brother of Nike, Zelos, and Bia. They were the enforcers of Zeus."

"Correct, little bright one." Kratos loomed over them, "But I was not a traitor. Zeus is the traitor. He was slow in the war against Kronos and he trembled when Gaea rose. The gods only survived because of you demigods, the son of a Titan, and that Mutt. I could not stand for such a display!"

"So what's the point of all this?" Jason asked.

"Wouldn't you like to know, son of Jupiter?" Kratos cackled, "The Olympians undervalue strength in favor of backhanded trickery. We will show them the true meaning of both."

"I'm really sick of this guy," the girl said to Jason, "Can you guys get on with whatever it is your plan is?"

Jason didn't answer. Mainly because he didn't know where Piper and Hazel went or what their plan was. He really didn't want to deal with the girl either.

Kratos raised his massive fist. "Zeus, I will show you my strength by destroying your son with it!"

"Jason duck!" Piper's voice called from behind him.

Jason threw himself to the ground as the crane arm swung over his head and collided with Kratos. The god was battered backward. The arm shot forward and clamped around Kratos, pinning one of his arms to his torso.

The god smiled. He waved his free arm in the air. "You missed." Kratos said in a singsong fashion. His free arm began peeling off the crane's clamp like it was made of tissue paper.

"Hazel, now!"

A look of confusion crossed Kratos' face as he freed himself from the clamp. The ground began to collapse beneath his feet. The god fell into the growing hole as a huge cloud of dust billowed up and filled the stadium.

Jason covered his mouth with his shirt, but didn't squeeze his eyes shut in time. The dry dust burned his eyes. Even through clamped lids, tears managed to escape. He started to cough violently.

The murky cloud settled quickly. Jason hesitantly opened his eyes. The five heroes were standing close together. Everyone was covered in a thin layer of dust and dirt. Keenan doubled over in a coughing fit.

"Thanks. These clothes are ruined now." The caged girl commented as she looked herself over.

Jason growled. "Yeah, you're welcome for saving you too."

The girl glared back at him. "I'm still in the cage."

Jason was suddenly very tempted to leave her there and take their chances.

"Fools! Your Olympian trickery cannot defeat me!" Kratos' voice called out.

Where Kratos had fallen into the hole that Hazel made, only his head was exposed.

"This is a joke, right?" Hazel said.

The five demigods approached the god's head.

"Maybe his muscles are full of hot air." Frank mused.

"Air! AIR! How dare you foolish demi –"

Keenan ended the god's tirade by shoving a ripped piece of his shirt in his mouth. "Game over, Kratos."

"Thank you." Piper breathed a sigh of relief.

"What do we do about her?" Keenan motioned to the cage.

"I say we leave her." Jason said softly. Frank laughed, but Jason wasn't entirely joking. He made eye contact with Piper. A silent communication passed between them_. I don't like her, which means I can't trust her… yet_ – Jason mouthed. Piper's eyes hardened and she nodded back: _I'm with you. We'll take care of this._ A smile fought to take control of Jason's mouth. He fought it down – for now. They weren't out of the woods yet.

"We can't fight the prophecy," Piper said, "Come on."

Piper turned and strolled back to the cage. The others followed. Jason sighed. He could always throw her off the ship if she got too insufferable. The prophecy only said they had to rescue her. After that it was… open for interpretation. The smile finally wrestled control of his face, but he was able to suppress his laughter at the last second.

Keenan looked at him quizzically, then shook his head. Jason missed Leo, if only because the little Fire Dude would have thought that joke was awesome. Hades, Jason would have settled for Percy or even Jack. The Hephaestus' crew just didn't have the flair that the original _Argo II_ or the _Marathon's_ did. Then again, Frank seemed to be coming around. Jason shot the big guy a sideways glance. He was smiling goofily at Hazel, like she had just made the funniest joke in history. Maybe there was hope for their little group yet.

Piper stopped in front of the cage. "Promise to play nice?" She asked the other girl.

"Nice? I _embody_ nice." The girl winked at Jason. His smile morphed into a frown faster than Riptide clicked into a sword.

Piper laughed a little. It was only half forced. Jason saw a look of determination in his girlfriend's eyes. Not the _I'm going to beat the odds and save the world_ type of determination that they commonly found in themselves, but the _I've been stashing Monopoly money under the board and I can't wait to watch the light in your eyes die and our friendship slowly crumble into dust_ kind that struck fear into the heart of even the most casual board game player. You did _not_ play games with a daughter of Aphrodite. It quickly descended into a battle of life and death. A horrifying image of the Hephaestus burning while this girl and Piper clawed at each other's hair, both laughing maniacally flashed into his mind. Jason shook his head in the hopes of clearing it. It didn't work.

Then Piper spoke to the cage. Her voice became powerfully energized. "OPEN!" A section of the cage immediately swung outward, almost hitting Frank. No turning back now.

The girl gracefully stepped out of the cage. Immediately, her whole aura changed. Her hair sparkled in the sun. Her skin shone. The air around her seemed to warm. A fire dazzled behind her dark brown eyes.

She stood still. Her eyes sized up her rescuers, lingering on Jason for an extra second. Her eyes spoke more words than her lips ever could. The twinkle in her eyes answered Piper's challenge: _Game on. This will be fun._

No. N_o_ it will certainly not be _fun_, Jason wanted to say. He had never been more scared of another demigod in his entire life.

"Hello. I'm Celina, daughter of Helios. I heard you need my help to save the world."


	8. The Son of the North

**A/N: Hey guys! Sorry that its been so long, the semester has been crazy busy so far. So here is the next installment. During my absence, I've gotten a lot of love for this story and Sea Spawn and the Mutt. I love to get it so thanks so much and keep it coming! Let me know what you think about this.**

**The Son of the North**

"Whoa," escaped Jack's lips.

Percy had to agree. His foot found purchase on first step of the staircase leading to the interior of the castle. The distorted light from the sun that bounced its way through the thick ice made the walls and floor dazzle with stars. There didn't seem to be any sources of artificial light. The hole that the staircase spiraled up into was pitch black.

A squeak echoed. Somewhere above Percy, Jack's foot slipped on the ice, nearly sending him tumbling back to earth… and probably death. Percy, who was pulling up the rear of the group, climbed a few more stairs, and was blanketed by darkness.

"Hey, Dax. Can you do the glowstick trick again?" Percy said as he almost lost his own footing. His voice seemed to carry forever. What he thought was a whisper came out more like a scream.

Dax mumbled in Greek. _Light my path_. _In Memorium_ began to glow green, casting grotesque shadows onto the walls. Percy caught sight of his reflection in the wall. Even though the ice was smooth, its curve stretched Percy to the point where his waistline was closer to that of Mr. D's than his own.

"How's it going up there?" Percy called.

"The same as it was five minutes ago." Dax responded.

"Do you see any light at all?" Jack said.

"No," Dax sighed.

Percy's heart thundered. After the attack of the snowmen, he was ready for another ambush from a demon Santa Claus or Jack Frost. Percy climbed ten more stairs, then ten more, and then another. He tried to count them, but lost track quickly. His best estimate was a few million. They seemed to go on forever.

"Maybe…" Dax muttered, "Hold on."

Dax spat out another Greek phrase. _I made it_. Percy liked that – a little thank you to the gods and the blade while serving as a friendly reminder of how much they accomplish along the way.

The green aura faded. Percy looked up and squinted. He could make out a tiny white ripple in the sea of black. It was definitely something. Percy tightened his grip on Riptide and quickened his pace.

With every step, the white grew. Percy forced himself to look away while he climbed. It just made him more anxious. He wanted to be back on the ship and heading to Panama. That's where they needed to be now – unraveling the prophecy and saving the world, not snowmobiling through the wilds of Canada.

"Finally," Annabeth said as she finished her climb in front of Percy.

Percy stepped off the final stair onto the floor of the room, if it could even be called a room. The chamber looked like it was built for giants, and not the Hyperboreans Percy was so familiar with but the kind of giant that could use the Empire State Building as a baseball bat. A football field turned over to stand vertically might not reach the ceiling. One entire "wall" was transparent, giving Percy a landscape view of Halifax, sitting peacefully on the river.

"I take back my _whoa_ from before," Jack said, "This is way more _whoa_."

Percy turned around to scan the rest of the room. The ice was barren. There was no furniture, occupants, or sign that anyone had ever stepped foot in the room before Percy.

In the center of the room, twin staircases, identical to the one Percy had just climbed, twisted to the ceiling and then beyond.

"Looks like Christmas came early, and what did I get? More stairs! Oh gods, Santa, how did you know that was exactly what I wanted?" Jack cried. His shoulders went limp and he dropped his dagger in defeat, like someone had bludgeoned his soul.

"Are you kidding?" Jenni added.

Percy felt the despair in her voice seep into his bones. He felt his muscles relax. _Gods_, Jenni's charmspeak was powerful, and she wasn't even trying.

"Now what?" Dax asked.

Annabeth frowned and pointed at the stairs. "We keep going."

"Go with Dax and Percy they said. It'll be fun they said," Jack said, "Meanwhile Keegs is getting his tan on with some Brazilian _chicas_."

Skylar put her hand on Jack's elbow and guided him towards the stairs. "I'm sure they're not having a picnic either. We aren't going to turn around now, right?"

"I don't know. Maybe we should try something different for a change." Jack protested. "My feet hurt."

"Try wearing heels." Annabeth said.

"Hades should look into that as his next addition to the Fields of Punishment, especially for whiny little boys," Jenni said to Jack.

"Bite me," Jack snarled.

The six of them walked towards the staircases. Brazil did sound pretty appealing right now. An image of Frank accidently using way too much sunscreen flashed into his mind. _Hazel, wha- what do I do?_ Percy laughed quietly to himself.

The whole palace groaned, like giant gears had sprung to life below them. Percy stopped in his tracks.

"I do _not_ like the sound of that." Dax said.

Percy and Annabeth made eye contact. Loud, horrifying sounds were _never_ coincidences for demigods. Percy twirled Riptide nervously.

Jack unslung his bow and notched an arrow. His eyes steeled. Faster than Percy could blink, the whiny, afraid Jack was replaced with a warrior.

"Do we run?" He asked. Maybe it was not a complete transformation.

_CLAMP_! Percy felt something cold on both of his legs. He looked down to find his ankles and feet covered in ice. The floor had grown over him. Another tendril of ice shot up from the floor and latched onto his wrists. Percy could not move anything but his neck. Jack was similarly locked in front of him.

"This happens entirely too often." Dax said, his voice hot with anger. He was standing to Percy's right.

Movement caught his eye. A figure was descending the near staircase.

"We really appreciate you're gracious hospitality!" Dax called up.

"What's happening?" Jack asked. His back was to the stairs and he couldn't turn his head around enough to see.

"Our host has arrived." Dax said.

"What's he look like?" Jack asked.

"I don't know. He's too far." Percy answered.

"Well, does he look big? Or Scary? Is he actually a she? Or– "

"Stop!" Jenni yelled, "We don't know yet."

"But is –"

"Jack!" Jenni warned.

Jack grumbled something under his breath, but he stayed quiet. The mysterious figure reached the floor and continued towards the group. Percy could tell now that their captor was indeed a "he." Wrapped in a white cloak with a sky blue trim, he was small. A short, wiry boy who couldn't have been more than sixteen had captured them.

"I'm gonna kill him," Dax said.

"We need him," Annabeth said. Dax growled.

"Welcome to my home," The boy said as he stopped in front of them.

"Yeah, it's really cozy," Percy said.

"Who are you?" their captor asked. There was no malice in his ice-blue eyes.

"You haven't heard of us? We're only the world-saving, ass-kicking, good-looking, Gaea-blasting heroes of the _Marathon_, the fastest ship built by demigods." Jack rattled off.

"Skylar, I thought we agreed no more coffee for Jack." Jenni said.

"This is my fault," Annabeth answered, "I tried to get him to start reading, but the only book he would open is the thesaurus."

"Yup," Jack nodded happily, "I now have eight words that I can substitute for fart." He burst out laughing.

"How is that funny?" Jenni asked.

"How is that _not_ funny?" Jack answered.

"Anyway," Annabeth cleared her throat, "I'm Annabeth Chase. We're from Camp Half-Blood. We are here because of a prophecy that told us to find the son of the north."

The boy's eyes narrowed in suspicion. His feet fidgeted. "I know who you are."

"How?" Percy asked.

"The internet."

"See, dude, not that weird." Dax said to Percy.

Percy's mind was blown. He couldn't imagine Camp with the internet. What about all the things he missed out on? Fantasy football, Facebook, online holiday shopping – the list when on and on. Then he thought of the Stolls having internet access. They would be able to wreak havoc on a national level. Maybe Camp was better off.

"My name is Quinn." The boy said.

"Hold on. How did you build this? Are you the only one here?" Dax asked.

Quinn did not answer. He lifted one hand. Ice rose out of the floor and transformed into a sword in his hand. Quinn took the sword and pointed it at Dax. Percy noticed the blade shook.

"You're the son of the north." Annabeth said.

"Correct. Koios is my father."

"Can I kill him _now_?" Dax turned to Annabeth.

Annabeth rolled her eyes. "Why do we need you for the quest?"

"I do not know," Quinn walked around his prisoners, sizing each one up.

"Are we doing this the hard way or the easy way?" Jack glared at Quinn.

"Or the Percy way?" Dax added.

"Hey! We're alive, aren't we?" Percy protested.

"Okay, we can handle this peaceful –" Jenni started.

Quinn wheeled around and pointed the sword at her throat. "Don't try that trick, daughter of Aphrodite." He made a downward motion with his free hand. The ice holding them captive broke apart and fell to the floor. His sword disintegrated. "But you are not wrong."

Percy rubbed his cold, sore wrists. "Was that really necessary?"

"I had to be careful. I knew someone would come eventually, but I had to make sure that you were the right ones." Quinn said. His voice was shaky.

"So the snowmen… those are yours?" Skylar asked.

"Yes, that's my security. It keeps out the monsters." Quinn explained.

"So that's how you get away with using the internet." Percy said.

"How did you know someone would come for you?" Annabeth asked.

"I live here alone, but I've had… visitors. Well, just one. A woman." Quinn explained.

"Is she a babysitter dressed in black or a mud lady? Because we've had some problems with those." Percy said. Percy could not decide if Gaia or Hera the evil babysitter would be a worse omen.

"No," Quinn replied, a little confused, "No. She always wore blue. She never told me her name, but sometimes she called me her brother." His voice quivered.

"Another demititan, maybe?" Skylar asked.

"I'm not sure," Quinn scrunched his eyebrows, "She didn't seem mortal, and she knew… things. She told me about parts of my future."

"She told you that we would come?" Annabeth.

Quinn pointed at Percy and then Dax. "She told me they would – the sons of the sea. I didn't expect so many others. She visited for the last time a few weeks ago. She said she would see me again after we were told the other half of the prophecy."

"I guess we should get started then." Percy said.

A series of nods and yeses answered him. As foreboding as the ice palace was, Percy could tell some of his friends were reluctant to leave. They were relatively safe here. When they left, they were putting themselves back in danger. Unfortunately, they did not have a choice.

Quinn looked terrified. His eyes danced around, like he expected one of the Marathon's crew to attack him. He was rubbing his hands together nervously. It struck Percy that Quinn only interacted with a handful of people, and mostly his mysterious "sister," for his entire life. He didn't know how to be social.

"Do we have to walk all the way back to the ship?" Jack asked.

"I don't think so." Dax punched a series of buttons on his wristwatch. Through the window-wall, Percy saw the parked Marathon turn and began to float towards the palace.

"Um, Quinn, do you have any air defenses set up?" Annabeth asked.

"Yes, I'll disable –" Quinn began but stopped when a giant ball of ice and snow catapulted from the ground towards the hull of the ship. Quinn's hand darted forward and twisted. The iceball disintegrated in the air, tiny fragments bounced harmlessly off of the Marathon. Everyone turned to look at the boy.

"There's an extensive tunnel system below the castle. I set up some… ice catapult machines. I had a lot of time to kill." Quinn didn't sound proud of his accomplishment. Percy felt sorry for him.

"So Boreas wasn't lying after all." Annabeth said.

"There's a first time for everything." Jack grumbled.

Quinn waved his hand again. The ice of the window-wall dissolved into snow and fall gently to the floor. Some snow spilled out the window and tumbled towards the earth. The Marathon gained speed, growing in Percy's vision the closer it flew.

On board the ship, the crew decided that a nap was in order. The excitement of the day had worn them all out. Even Quinn looked exhausted. The Marathon climbed higher in the sky. Quinn hung back, leaning over the railing and watching his home shrinking with every second. Percy walked over to stand next to him.

Quinn did not react. The twisted expression on his face told Percy he was grappling with something – some kind of decision. Then his face relaxed and he took a deep breath. Quinn pointed his hand at the castle and closed it into a fist.

A groan echoed across the white plain. A scar opened in the side of the flawless ice, then another, and another. The cracks spiderwebbed and spread until large pieces began to fall into the palace. The concussion waves created more cracks.

Percy looked at Quinn. "I doubt I'll ever come back here," the son of Koios said, "I don't need to leave a monument for myself."

The main tower proved to be too heavy for the weakening supports of the castle. With a boom, the tower fell through the ceiling of the massive chamber. It hit the bottom and exploded, blowing out the walls. The castle was a monument to Quinn's isolation – his years of waiting that he was born to do and never had a choice in. This was his chance to make his life worth something.

"Sometimes the past is just that – over," Quinn said.

He turned his back on his former home and walked towards the stairs. Percy noticed Quinn walked a little straighter, like he had shrugged off chains that he had been dragging around for years.


	9. Trust Issues

**A/N: Hey guys, hope your semester's going well. Here's the next installment. Hope you enjoy. Don't worry, in a couple chapters it'll get real heated again. Keep the good feedback coming. Love it!**

**Trust Issues**

The steady hum of the engines kept Keenan focused. His hands worked in sync with the mechanical drumbeat. One gear tightened here, one added there. Almost done. He inserted a new support piston in the center of the capsule and connected it to the pressure tubes. He shut the protective hatch with a click.

He exhaled heavily and sat back in his chair. Keenan looked at the red LED clock on his workbench. 3:45 a.m.

_Awesome_.

Keenan had been up all night trying to fix the ballistae cannon primer. It had taken far too long to warm up when the squid had attacked. Against a more powerful enemy, it very well have been too late to save them. That's why, even though it killed him to admit it, Keenan had recommended not taking the _Hephaestus_ into the soccer stadium.

But now it was fixed, hopefully for good. Keenan wished Leo was there, if for no other reason than to double check his measurements. Keenan did not hate his brother's jokes either. Even when he did not understand him, Keenan was reassured by Leo. He could feel the familial connection between them. Dax and Annabeth were both brilliant, and good at engineering and the like, but they did not get Keenan. Leo did, even if he operated at the other end of the behavioral spectrum.

A crash, followed by a loud curse, came from one of the aisles. Keenan waited, unsure who would need him this time of night. If there was an emergency, it would have come over the intercom.

Celina emerged carrying a metal tube as long as her arm. A spare part for the engine's hydraulic system. Keenan frowned.

"Sorry, I didn't see it until I fell over it," she said.

"It's okay. Just let me see it." Keenan scrambled around the workbench and took the tube from Skylar. There was a small dent in the middle – nothing a few hammer blows could not fix. He set it down on the workbench. "Do you need something?"

Celina strolled over and sat up on the workbench. She had replaced her dust covered clothes with jeans and a plain yellow shirt. Courtesy of Aphrodite, who could not allow her daughter to quest without a proper wardrobe, had enchanted a chest to produce whatever clothes its asker wished. Keenan did not complain. He looked down at his t-shirt, embroidered with the words _My Favorite Team is Whoever Beats the Yankees_. He sadly remembered Leo's prewar speech, about Gaea being the Yankees, because everyone hates them.

Keenan fingered his new necklace. The Marathon's original crew had become honorary initiates of Camp Half-Blood. Naturally, they were given the end-of-the-summer bead. This year's was gold, engraved with a black Warhammer and crimson whip in honor of Hephaestus and Ryder's sacrifice.

"I need a favor," Celina said.

Keenan returned to the inside of his omega-shaped workbench. Her eyes watched him the whole way. "What's up?"

Celina rotated her finger around the room. "You wouldn't happen to have any extra speakers lying around, would you?" She bit her lip.

"Speakers?"

"Yeah, like the kind I can plug my iPod into in my room."

That was a strange request at almost four in the morning. Keenan shrugged. What was the harm? "Check aisle four. Then bring them to me. I'll check if they work.

Celina thanked him and went down the aisle he indicated. Keenan set about knocking Celina's dent out of the hydraulic tube. He just finished when the daughter of Day returned, a pair of speakers in hand. She set them down on his bench.

She smiled. Keenan did not return it. He took the covers of the speakers. After a short inspection, he undid his damage.

"They should work," Keenan said, pushing the speakers towards her, "but they might need batteries." Keenan opened a drawer below him and removed four AA's. "Just in case."

Celina smiled again. "Thanks so much."

Keenan said nothing, deliberately trying to make her feel awkward. The girl was smooth, too smooth. Keenan wanted to know what made her tick.

Celina cocked her head and blinked a few times, as if she had x-ray vision inside Keenan's head. She was sizing him up too.

"I did you a favor," Keenan said, "Now your turn. It's only a question."

"Go for it, gearhead."

Celina seemed to already be accustomed to funny nicknames. That would help her fit in. "Why were you called the daughter of Day in the prophecy?"

"What do you mean?" Her eyes narrowed. Keenan could not tell if it was out of confusion or suspicion.

"Well, Helios is the god of the sun, not day. There is no _god_ of day. Shouldn't it have said daughter of the sun?"

Keenan studied Celina. As he finished the question, he thought her eyes narrowed a fraction of an inch more. Her face stayed like that for a few seconds before her smile returned.

"Beats me. Like what Helios told Piper. He sees all that the sun's light touches, which is daytime."

"Still seems oddly… off, for a prophecy."

"You know how cryptic those things are."

"I do. But do you? Have you heard one before?"

Keenan did not care what Celina thought of him. He was going to have his answers. He was going to put the puzzle pieces together, because that might be all it took to save his friends, and if he did not, he might lose them.

"Well, Helios always rambled about things like that. He knew prophecies. He told me about your prophecy of seven and that I would be important in this next one."

"Did he say anything else?" Keenan asked.

"No, but why me? Sun and light? If I had to guess, then we are going up against something really, really dark." Celina said it like it was more than a guess.

"We'll have to keep that in mind. Watch for stray gears on your way out."

"Right," Celina said, "Thanks for the speakers, Connor."

"Don't mention it."

Celina scurried out of the room, leaving Keenan with the feeling that his puzzle was much larger in scope than he had thought.

_ What is really dark? Blackness? Night? Hades' heart? _

Keenan did not know, and he was not all that excited to find out.

* * *

Voices echoed down the hallway from the kitchen. Keenan turned the corner and walked towards them. They sounded tired and agitated. Who would still be up at this time of night? _Me_, Keenan thought glumly.

Keenan left the darkness of the hallway and entered the bright light of the kitchen. Frank and Jason stopped talking to look at him. There were empty root beer bottles and candy wrappers strewn everywhere.

"What are you guys doing up?" Keenan asked.

"Couldn't sleep," Jason said.

"I got hungry," Frank said. He tossed Keenan an unopened root beer. "Sit down."

Keenan caught it and sat in the middle of the table, between the other two. "Bad dream?" he asked Jason.

Frank got up. He walked to the counter and refilled his enchanted plate with two chili dogs.

"Not exactly. I'm just really anxious," Jason said, "the music doesn't help either."

"What music?" Keenan asked, his ears straining. He could make out a dull thumping coming from the other end of the hall. It sounded like the punk rock song, Teenage Dirtbag, but Keenan could not be sure. "Oh."

"Where did Celina get speakers?" Frank asked as he sat down.

"Sorry," Keenan said.

"Why?" Jason asked.

"She came down a while ago and asked for them. I figured it was a harmless favor. I did not realize she fell asleep to _that_."

"She might not be sleeping," Frank said, "She could be planning how to kill us."

"Why would she do that?" Keenan asked.

"Jason thinks she's evil." Frank pointed at the son of Jupiter.

"Not evil. She just, rubs me the wrong way. I don't trust her. She makes me feel uncomfortable, anxious," Jason explained.

Frank said, "I agree with the second part. I trust her though."

Keenan looked back and forth between the boys. They could not figure out why she made them uncomfortable? Keenan almost laughed.

"Really?"

"What?" Jason asked.

"You don't get it?"

"Get what?" Frank asked.

"It's because she's hot."

"What are you talking about?" Frank said.

"Celina is a bombshell, and she knows it. She uses it to manipulate people. That's why you two married men get all jumpy and weird around her and why Piper was wary of her from the start. Celina was paying a lot of attention to you, Jason," Keenan said. He could not hold his laughter in at the end.

"What do I care if she's hot?" Jason said, his brow furrowing.

"It's not that you care. It's natural dude. Biology. Science. It's alright to say that another girl is attractive."

"You know," Frank said, "Keegs is right. Now that I think about it, she definitely has that sorority girl I'm-the-schist attitude."

Jason glared at Frank. "Piper wouldn't be jealous of her, Keenan."

"Not like the active kind of jealous. But when a new, attractive girl is introduced, Piper is going to be a little protective. It's not a bad thing." Keenan laughed again at Jason's expense. Frank joined him. "But, I don't trust her either. I think she's on our side, but she's hiding something."

Keenan explained the conversation in the workshop. Frank and Jason absorbed it in silence.

"That's a good point," Jason said, "Prophecies may be unclear, but they are never wrong. "

"Her explanation is shaky," Frank said, "But they always make sense in the end."

"I'd rather not wait until the end to get stabbed in the back," Jason said.

Frank shrugged. "Well, what do you say we go then.

Jason sighed. "There's not much to do now. We go to Panama. We talk to the others and hear the rest of the prophecy. Hopefully that will shed some light on this."

"Agreed," Keenan said, "And try to get answers anyway we can."

Jason nodded

Frank finished his chili dog and washed it down with the last of his root beer. "So, in the meantime… PercyBall?"

Jason started to laugh. Keenan smiled. "Okay. One game… or four."

The three boys scrambled to the couch. Their anxiety faded as the talk of Celina's mystery did. Keenan quickly lost count of how many games they played. The sun rose, but he did not care. Sleep was good and it was healthy, but sometimes an all-nighter was even healthier. In Keenan's experience, a happy soul was infinitely more valuable than a happy body.


	10. Wake Me When You Need Me

**A/N: Alright. Here's the last of the fill in the _ chapters. Enjoy and please review!**

**Wake Me When You Need Me**

_BOOM_! echoed from the TV as a grenade exploded.

"Dude, that was the worst throw ever, of all time." Jack said.

"This game is rigged!" Percy yelled.

"No, you just suck."

Percy glared at Jack. On screen, Jack's character, wielding an energy sword, cut through a horde of aliens. "See, it's that easy."

A giant, gorilla-like alien rumbled into the room. It picked up Jack's character and threw him into the wall. Percy's avatar, a human-friendly alien, took down the beast with a shotgun. Percy smirked at Jack, who gestured impolitely with one of his fingers in response.

A door creaked behind the couch the boys were sitting on. Percy paused their game. "Uh oh, the fun police is shutting down the party."

"Nah, it's just Quincy," Percy punched Jack in the arm, "I didn't mean 'just' like that, you know, it's just that we, um, expected Dax to come out and yell at us."

"Does he do that a lot – yell?" Quincy asked.

"Not really. We just like to tease him. It's so easy – and fun – to get him fired up." Percy explained.

"And he's a really light sleeper." Jack added.

"I couldn't sleep at all. I've never been on a ship before. It's a weird experience." Quincy said. He found something interesting about his feet.

"Grab a seat then." Quincy looked up in surprise, like he had expected them to tell him to go back in his room. "You ever play Halo?"

Quincy walked around them to sit on the other section of the L-shaped couch. He sat on the edge of the cushion, still uncomfortable around Percy and Jack. Percy offered him a third controller. Quincy blinked a few times, then reached out and took it.

"Um, no. This was never my game. How do I play?" Quincy asked.

"We're all on the same team. We have to stay alive, blow up some aliens, and save the galaxy. Routine demigod stuff, except when we die we get to – NO!" Jack explained as his character was sent flying into the air by a small alien with a rocket-launcher. His screen shimmered golden, and then his character was back on the ground, unhurt. "Like I was saying, you get to respawn when you die."

"I'd love to be a child of that god." Percy said.

"So, Quincy, what is your game then?"

"I never had an Xbox or anything. I always played computer games. World of Warcraft is my favorite."

"Cool. As long as you didn't say Zoo Tycoon or something." Percy said, eyes glued to the TV.

"Hey! I loved that game." Jack said.

"You were probably the kid who let the man-eating dinosaurs loose in the park for fun." Jack didn't protest. Percy started laughing.

"So…" Quincy began, trying to find his confidence, "What else can you guys tell me about this quest? I know the prophecy, but not all the details you guys do."

Percy and Jack shared a quick glance. Neither was sure how much they could trust Quincy. He was clearly very powerful and he was the son of a Titan. Then again, Percy had never met a demititan that meant him any harm.

"Honestly, not that much," Percy said, "We're pretty sure that the giant in the prophecy is Atlas. We've got the giant Alcyoneus, the bane of Hades, still on the loose. Our friend Nico di Angelo, a son of Hades, went missing not that long ago."

"That's the good news. Our other half, the crew of the _Hephaestus_, is on its way to Brazil to complete the other half of the start of the prophecy. We haven't gotten any word from them. Is that weird, Percy?" Jack said.

Percy had not put much thought into their friends. Their own trip had been so eventful he hadn't had much time for his mind to wander. "Probably not. Let's check in in the morning."

"What are they doing in Brazil?" Quincy asked.

"They are rescuing the daughter of Day. Whatever that means," Jack said.

"I don't think there is a god of day," Quincy said.

"Exactly. We're just as confused as you are." Percy cursed as his character exploded.

Quincy did not take his eyes off the TV. "My sister mentioned something about a frozen key and a breach of some kind. Does that mean anything to you?"

Percy and Jack shared another glance. Percy said, "Your guess is as good as ours."

"Are we supposed to use the key to close the breach or open it, you think?" Jack asked. Only the explosions from the TV answered him.

Percy mentally sighed. They only seemed to be finding more questions, and no answers. He prayed to his father that the others uncovered anything that could help them.

"Ah!" Quincy yelled as his character was tossed into the air by a green monstrosity, "What are those?"

Jack laughed. "Those? Those are part of a hive-minded infectious parasite trying to devour all sentient life in the galaxy."

"That's terrifying," Quincy said.

"At least _that's_ something we will never have to fight," Percy said.

"Amen," Jack said.

Quincy looked at the other two in horror, as if they just jinxed the quest. He is going to have to lighten up, laugh a little. Percy scolded himself. The kid did not know how to act with people yet. They were going to have to be gentle with Quincy.

"So, Q, tell me more about how you got on back at the castle?" Jack asked.

"Sorry, what? And what's a Q?"

"Q, like the first letter of your name. It's a nickname, dude," Jack said, "I meant how did you get food and a computer for your ice castle?"

"Oh," Quincy said slowly, still trying to process his nickname, "I did a lot of bartering. My skills helped. I would create ice sculptures with my powers and sell them in Halifax and the surrounding towns. I used that money to buy food and a computer and anything else I needed."

"Cool," Percy said, "What was your highest paying sculpture?"

Q's brow furrowed as he tried to remember. "I guess it was the skyline. I reconstructed the skyline of Halifax as seen from the massive window of castle. It was nearly twenty feet tall. The city paid me a lot of money for that one."

Percy could imagine a miniature city of ice in the middle of a park, sparkling in the sun's light. _A monument to last a thousand years_, that's what Annabeth wanted to build. Q had that power at his fingertips. Sure, his monument might have to spend that thousand years in a freezer, but as long as it did not lose electricity, it would last.

For all his strength, Percy could never build anything. He spent most of his time destroying things that were built actually. Annabeth could. With her mind, she designed buildings and monuments. Percy hoped he could be a part of it. Sadness snuck up on him then. He hoped that he lived long enough to be a part of it.

"Did you go to school?" Jack asked.

"For I while, I did," Q answered, "Then high school happened. Monsters started showing up. A pack of Hyperboreans destroyed my first high school when my gym teacher kicked them out of gym class. For a field trip we went whale watching. A group of mermaids attacked the boat. The teacher got tossed overboard. After a few other incidents, my sister and I decided that it would be best if I stayed in the castle as much as possible."

The longing in Q's voice was painful to hear. For all the complaints and issues Percy had with his childhood, he at least had some semblance of one. And he was never alone.

"You know, Q, that you don't have to go back there after this is over," Percy said.

Q looked at him and blinked a few times, not understanding what Percy was saying.

"That's what camp is. It's a shelter for half-bloods to live safely with each other. Or there's Camp Jupiter, but I have feeling you wouldn't like it much there," Percy said.

"Or there's the Flotilla!" Jack said.

Percy and Jack, trading off the part of narrator, explained the backstory of the two camps and the Flotilla. It turned out that Q had logged into Flotilla message boards and gathered a lot of information. Percy and Jack were able to fill in what he did not know.

"Whoa. Its different hearing the stories from you guys instead of piecing together sparse message board posts," Q said. He turned back to face the TV, "Still, I don't know if I would fit in at any of these places. I've never been to anything like them before."

"Nobody knows what it's like until they go," Percy said.

"Don't worry. We don't all bite," Jack said.

Q smiled. His shoulders relaxed a little and he slumped back into the couch. Percy smiled too. The promise of a home with people like him seemed to make Q feel better. He had something to fight for.

Percy let out a big yawn.

"Don't go soft on us now, Percy," Jack said, "We only have one more level left."

Percy fought to keep his eyes open for the next half hour as the three heroes plowed through hordes of virtual aliens and parasites. They activated the final ring and narrowly escaped the ensuing explosion.

"Wake me when you need me," Percy's character said to his artificial intelligence.

Percy mumbled something similar, laid back on the couch, and closed his eyes.

* * *

A loud noise, like a cruise ship's horn, jarred Percy awake. His eyes shot open and he jumped to his feet. Were they on a collision course with a floating Olympian luxury vessel?

Laughter came from behind him. Dax was grinning and twirling an air horn.

"Wake up, Seaweed Brain," Annabeth said, "We're almost to Panama Viejo."

"Morning, Wise Girl," Percy said.

"C'mon," Annabeth said as she looped her arm in his and led him down the hall, "Let's get some blue pancakes in you, okay? I need you one hundred and ten percent when we get down there."

Smiling from ear to ear, Percy kissed the top of Annabeth's forehead. "Whatever you need, Annabeth. I'm awake. I'm right here."


	11. A Favor for Revenge

**A/N: Alright, finally here is our missing hero. I hope you enjoy the change of pace. Thanks for reading and enjoy!**

**A Favor for Revenge**

Why did he always get the secret jobs? The dirty, solitary, high-risk with little to no chance of success, let alone survival, jobs. And every single time, it was for some sketchy deity, ghost, or whatever.

But Nico di Angelo wasn't actually as mad as he wished he was. He tried to stay at Camp and make a home, he really did, but it was so difficult. Jason and Hazel tried so hard to make him feel like family. He appreciated the effort, it just wasn't what he needed.

Nico nearly killed himself transporting the Athena Parthenos across the globe to stop a war between the Greeks and Romans. He finally arrived, and was a hero for all of four minutes.

Nico did have to admit those four minutes felt pretty good.

Then the Flotilla blocked out the sky over camp, telling an impossible tale of Percy and Annabeth being captured again while the _Argo II_ was destroyed.

Basically, his effort was a waste, because a week later he was back in Greece chained at the base of Olympus waiting for Percy Jackson to rescue him. _Again_.

The giants used him. _Again_. Just like in Rome, he was a lure for Percy. Except Nico wasn't the lure he wanted to be. He was a friend, a little cousin that needed protection.

Anger coursed through him and his grip tightened around the waist of his driver.

Even better, Nico was currently hanging on to the back of Nemesis, the goddess of revenge, for dear life as she torched through the Underworld going super-Olympian miles per hour on her motorcycle.

Nemesis had appeared to him in a dream, a week before the _Marathon_ and the _Hephaestus_ were due to depart on their quest. She needed his Underworld expertise, and she needed it ten minutes ago. Something about a threat that she was uniquely suited to combat with his help. So he had shadow-traveled away at the beck and call of yet another god.

Naturally, Nico hadn't been able to say goodbye to anyone. Not that they would've cared anyway.

He tried to remain even more distant from Percy than he had before the war. The son of the sea god and Annabeth had become more than inseparable. They were interchangeable, only existing as a part of the other. And Percy had a new brother along with a whole host of friends to occupy his time that he wasn't spending rebuilding, going to Camp Jupiter, helping with Keenan's new ship, and just being the best version of Percy Jackson he could possibly be.

Nico snarled into the back of Nemesis' black leather jacket. The deliberately evasive goddess couldn't even tell him why she needed him! She knew her way around the Underworld. She was the daughter of Nyx and Erebos, night and darkness, for Hades sake.

He had a sneaking suspicion that the pair's path was headed on a direct collision course with Percy's. Nico needed to know what was going on.

_I can't believe I'm about to do this. Percy would totally love it – NO!_

"GAAAAAARRRR!"

Nico threw himself off the screaming metal deathtrap. He was airborne for a few seconds before slamming face first into the rocky ground. He rolled another thirty feet in a painful tumble.

A groan escaped Nico's lips. His whole body burned. He could feel deep cuts along his forearms and face without even seeing them. There was definitely a better approach than that.

The motorcycle came to sharp halt right next to Nico. Gravel sprayed at his face and into his mouth.

Nico slowly got to his feet, spitting out grayish dirt and rocks the whole way. He spat just a few inches away from the front tire of the motorcycle. "Thanks for that."

"Have you lost your mind, son of Hades?" Nemesis asked.

Nico stared at the goddess. "If you think even for a second that I'm getting back on that bike without answers you are dead wrong."

To Nico's surprise, Nemesis' expression softened. "I suppose it is only fair, but I cannot reveal everything. It is not safe, not yet, but you will understand in time. Keep in mind that I am the goddess of balance as well as revenge. That balance is now in jeopardy."

"Gods aren't supposed to act directly. That's what we're here for, right?" Nico asked. His tone was still harsh.

"Things have changed since Gaea was defeated. We can play by… different rules now. Besides, I believe this is going to turn into a family matter," Nemesis explained.

"Isn't it always?" Nico said under his breath.

"But I do need your help. I fear involving your father now. His attention may only accelerate things," Nemesis said.

"If you're going to insist on being so infuriatingly cryptic," Nico said, "At least tell me why _I'm_ here?"

"You know the Underworld better than anyone else, besides your father. I need you to have your senses on high alert."

"For what, exactly?" Nico asked. He was more intrigued and worried than he was suspicious now.

"Any disturbance, especially in the boundaries of Hades and Tartarus. I don't know how exactly it will feel, but I trust you'll know. For now, any anomaly is a beacon we ride to. I trust your judgment." Nemesis said.

Funny. Leo and Hazel's description of Nemesis had terrified Nico when she contacted him. But the cold, calculating goddess that took her own son's eye was nowhere to be found. Nemesis was afraid of something. For her to trust him, _need_ him… whatever was happening must be truly catastrophic.

Nico nodded. "Okay."

"One more thing. Has your father told you about the giant?"

Nico's eyes grew wide. "Giant? No, they're dead. We killed them."

"All but one, I'm afraid. The bane of Hades, and Gaea's heir to the Underworld, Alcyoneus, is alive and well. And it gets worse," Nemesis' eyes grew cloudy, "Apollo is missing. I believe he's been captured."

"Apollo? By who? Why?" Nico asked in disbelief.

"I can't say for sure, yet. The mixture of enemies we now face is confusing at best, scary at worst. Atlas and whatever support he drums up and a rogue, pissed-off giant. Just pray that I'm wrong about who's pulling their strings."

A strange mix of fear and anger filled Nico's belly. Nobody messed with _his_ Underworld. He owed that gem-skinned giant a beating.

He threw one leg across the motorcycle seat and wrapped his arms around Nemesis' leather covered waist.

"Punch it."


	12. Nico Gets an Apple but Forgets Noseplugs

**A/N: Let's get Nico some action, huh? The plot is thickening. Enjoy! Let me know what you think of Nico's thread so far.**

**Nico Gets an Apple but Forgets Noseplugs**

Nemesis pushed her bike even faster than before. Nico gulped. He'd seen the aftermath of Ares riding his motorcycle. It wasn't pretty, and Nico had a feeling Ares would balk at their current speed. He hoped Nemesis was a better driver than the god of war.

Nico was still trying to process what Nemesis revealed to him. They already knew Atlas was out there somewhere, but Alcyoneus had somehow survived the Battle of Olympus. The two of them together would be a force to reckon with. What worried Nico more was Nemesis' fear of some even more powerful deity controlling the two of them.

Nico felt a tug in his gut. _That's weird_. Nemesis said to be alert. Maybe this was it. He opened his mouth to ask her, but a sharp pain in his abdomen cut him off. He involuntarily squeezed Nemesis.

"Nico, are you alright?"

The pain evaporated as quickly as it appeared, but Nico still felt that uncomfortable tug. "Kind of. I've got a weird feeling."

"You have to focus on it. Zero in on where it's coming from," Nemesis said.

The ground beneath the motorcycle became flatter and less rocky. Thick mist began to collect around them.

Nico squeezed his eyes shut and tried to focus. The tug didn't seem to have an origin. It was just a ball in the middle of his belly. The ball began to shift. Nico felt it tug him towards his right.

"Go right!" He called to his driver.

Nemesis hung a hard right. Too hard. She overshot the trajectory of his tug, which now told him to turn back left.

"Too much!"

The goddess evened out the turn and settled right where Nico felt they should go. The only problem was the closer they got, the more the tug hurt. Now his eyes were shut from pain instead of focus. It was as if he could feel the Underworld through the tug in a way he never had before. It was talking to him, instead of him sensing it, kind of like its immune system was calling for reinforcements.

Something was very, very wrong.

The pain and tug both suddenly evaporated. Nico opened his eyes and pushed off of Nemesis a little so he could see. The mist still limited his vision, but not his ears. He could hear a crunching sound growing in intensity behind them.

"Where now, Nico?" Nemesis asked.

"I lost it," Nico was trying to focus on the noise, "Wait, do you hear that?"

"Hear what?"

A shape materialized out of the fog. A rolling circle roared over the gravel directly at the motorcycle.

"Incoming!" Nico screamed.

Nemesis tilted her head enough to see the approaching… whatever it was. With her thumb, she flicked off the end of one handle and depressed a bright blue button. Immediately, the bike lurched forward, just barely escaping being turned into scrap metal.

As the attacking circle thing passed by them, Nico was able to make out scales covering its hide. He thought he spotted what looked like a head, but it was part of the loop. It was rolling too fast for Nico to get a good look at it.

When the boost expired, Nemesis brought the bike to a screeching halt. Neither occupant spoke while they listened carefully for the return of their attacker. Nico could barely hear over the beating of his heart.

After so many close encounters with death, Nico decided that was not the way he wanted to go out -crushed by a skinny, hollow bowling ball with a stubborn goddess in Hades-only-knows-what part of the Underworld.

"I don't hear anything," Nemesis said.

"Me neither," Nico said, "Nice move back there."

"An improvement from Leo Valdez. He's much better than his father at timely returns of our weapons."

Nico's eyebrowns scrunched together. He couldn't imagine Leo being better than anyone at getting things done on time, except maybe Percy, the king of bad timing.

_No! Stop thinking about him. _

"Nico di Angelo, I can sense your discord. It warms my heart." A sinister female voice said from behind them.

Nico wheeled around, his Stygian iron sword in hand. Nemesis stood next to him. She held a black revolver in one gloved hand and a long red whip in the other.

The woman who called to Nico stood ten feet in front of them. A black toga draped across her shoulders and around her waist. Her light grey eyes gleamed intensely. She smiled like she was thinking of all the gruesome ways she could tear Nico apart.

"Hello, sister," Nemesis said without lowering her weapon, "It's been so long." There was no warmth in her voice.

The other goddess spread her arms as a gesture of peace, but her evil smile didn't fade. "I come in peace. I am unarmed."

Nemesis bared her teeth, "You and I both know you can create chaos with just your presence. What do you want, Eris?"

Eris, the daughter of Nyx? Goddess of chaos and strife and responsible for loads of death and destruction? Nico couldn't imagine how he could get luckier today.

"I want you to come home. We all do. Mother would love to see you." Eris couldn't hide the contempt in her voice.

Nemesis laughed. "You do not! I do not belong with _you_," the word sounded like it mixed with acid in the goddess' mouth, "All of you are selfish. You only cause pain and suffering and fear as you see fit."

"Clouded with your noble conception of balance as always, dear sister," Eris almost seemed happy Nemesis declined the offer, "But you will not be spared in what is to come."

"Nothing is to come of this," Nemesis snarled, "Does she really think she can succeed where Gaea failed? She only has power from fear, and only the weak are afraid of the dark."

"You can still walk away, Nemesis," Eris turned to Nico, "As can you, Nico."

Eris swiped with her hand, and the fog rushed away from the trio. Nico realized he was in a part of the Underworld he had never traveled before. The ground beneath his feet was black like dried lava. He could see through cracks. Below the ground appeared to be a whirlpool of fire. That must be the source of the Phlegethon, which ran down into Tartarus.

There was nothing but rock spires around them. They appeared to be in a valley of some kind, because Nico could make out black mountains in all directions. Even with the fog gone, a thin red mist hung in the air.

Only feet to Nico's right ran a milky white river.

"The Lethe," Nico said.

"Yes," Eris said, "I can feel your pain, the chaos within you itching to break free. I know where this strife comes from, what plagues you," She motioned to the river, "You can be rid of him, forever."

Nemesis looked back and forth between them. "Nico, I don't know what you want to forget, but if you go in there, you're going to lose a lot more than that. You won't be you, Nico, ever again."

For a second, Nemesis almost convinced him to dive in. Maybe he didn't want to be Nico di Angelo, the loser son of Hades with no friends or family who carried a secret that weighed on his soul. He could have a fresh start. Nico took a tentative step towards the river.

"It's that easy, Nico," Eris said. She could taste the victory.

"Nico, nothing is ever that easy. Remember, goddess of balance?" Nemesis said. Her voice quivered with concern, "It will only make things harder."

Nico turned his back to the river and stared at both the goddesses.

_You must forge your own path for it to mean anything._

Jason Grace's words echoed through his mind. As much as Nico hated to admit it, most of Jason's advice made sense. Hopefully, it wasn't too late to listen.

Without ruling out any options, Nico decided to deal with Percy Jackson after he finished this.

Nico stepped back to Nemesis' side. "As tempting as that offer is Eris, I'd miss the part where we kick your butt. I can't pass up such a golden opportunity. Nice try though."

The malicious smile still never faded from her face. "If nothing else, you are brave, Nico di Angelo, and strong. I look forward to introducing you to a little chaos. Speaking of golden, I will grant you a gift."

Eris snapped her fingers and a golden apple appeared in her hand. She tossed it to Nico, who caught it gingerly. "In the meantime, spread some chaos of your own. It might just give you a fighting chance." Eris winked and then dissolved into black smoke.

Nico eyed the apple in his hand suspiciously. He wondered if it worked like a grenade. He would pull a pin and toss it into a group of enemies after yelling something corny he'd heard in Call of Duty. Nico didn't think there was any foul play in the gift. Eris simply liked her job too much. She couldn't help but introduce a little extra chaos wherever she went, even if it was at the expense of her own cause. But what if it isn't really her cause? The world would never be rid of strife and chaos. Eris could never fade. Nico filed that thought away in the back of his mind.

"Be careful with that, Nico. Chaos can be just as deadly to its wielder as its victims. It has no target, and even less compassion." Nemesis said.

Nico pocketed the apple. He'd worry about that later.

A low rumble sounded from behind them. Nico turned to see the rolling circle of scales rapidly approaching. At least they were ready this time. The monster wouldn't be stupid enough to charge a son of Hades and a goddess. But then why would it approach at all?

The circle rolled to a stop twenty feet away. It uncoiled into a massive snake nearly twenty feet long. Nico didn't know if he could wrap his arms around its necks. Wait, necks? The beast had a dragon head at each end of its body. Both curled around to examine its prey. The bigger head roared and spit acid in their direction.

"That's an amphisbaena." Nemesis said.

"Okay, you dumb monster. Come on, I wanna see you take on a goddess." Nico taunted.

"He would only be stupid if he was alone." The voice seemed to come from the shadows around him.

Black and purple smoke twisted into a spiral next to the monster. A figure materialized out of the liquid shadow. His skin was a dark, mottled purple like a fly's. His tunic seemed to be made of shadows. A cloak made of what looked to Nico like vulture skin died purple billowed from his shoulders.

"It's a pleasure to make your acquaintances, no matter how short that may last. I am Eurynomos," he flashed his teeth, which were all razor sharp incisors, "I am an assistant of Hades. I devour the flesh from corpses. I am decomposition."

"Gross, dude." Nico tried really hard not to throw up. This guy made some of Gaea's giants look like Abercrombie models. Nico couldn't even imagine what he smelled like.

"Very." Eurynomos licked his lips.

"Why do you oppose us if you serve Hades?" Nemesis asked.

"That's only my day job. I am first and foremost a terror of the night." He eyed them both hungrily, then fixed his gaze on Nemesis, "Come now, I've never tasted goddess before."

A long scythe with a purple blade materialized in his hand out of the shadows. Eurynomos growled.

Nico ran right at the god of decomposition. He held his breath, hoping that a few extra seconds without smelling his enemy might save his life.


	13. Return to Panama

**A/N: Sorry everybody. I know its been forever since I updated. It's been a crazy few months. ANYWAY here's a nice meaty chapter for you all to chew on while I take finals. Enjoy!**

**Return to Panama**

Jack woke to the sound of some kind of horn coming from the common room of the _Marathon_. His room was right across the hall, so he was woken up early in the mornings often by Dax, who still couldn't seem to learn how to make breakfast without dropping at least three metal pans.

Grumbling and moaning, Jack dragged himself off of his bed to see what the commotion was about. Poking his head out the door, he saw Dax smiling and taunting Percy with an air horn as he and Annabeth walked arm in arm down the hallway.

"Isn't that mine?" Jack asked.

Dax turned to him. "This? Oh yeah. I borrowed it this morning. You were out cold."

Jack yawned. "We were up really late."

"Halo?"

"Yeah, we played with the newbie."

"Really?" Dax perked up, "Find out anything interesting?"

Jack looked down each end of the hallway to make sure they were alone. "Kid's pretty lonely, sad, and nervous. Never had much time with people. No experience with demigods or quests. He seems powerful though."

Dax's eyes narrowed. "Will he be alright?"

"I think so. Just make sure you let him warm up to you a little. He thinks you're scary."

"He said that?" Dax asked wide-eyed.

"Well, not exactly," Jack said.

"What did he say _exactly_ then?"

"Oh, nothing," Jack said as he shut the door.

"Jack!" He heard Dax's muffled voice. Something thumped against the door. Probably the air horn. Hopefully it was not broken.

Jack smiled. Now Dax would pay some attention to how he treated Q. That would help the kid adjust.

Jack walked over to his dresser and pulled out the orange Camp Half-Blood shirt that Percy had given him. Home. Jack had fared the best of the Marathon's crew after the Battle of Olympus. The Hermes cabin, especially the Stolls, had made him feel like family immediately. Even the di Angelo kid stopped avoiding him, which Travis said was a great sign.

The shirt slipped over his head and fit perfectly. Jack reached under his bed and pulled out his favorite sneakers, the blue Nikes.

There was a soft knock at the door.

"It's open," Jack called.

The door opened and closed. Jack felt a pair of warm arms encircle his waist. A face buried itself in his back.

"Good morning."

Jack spun around and kissed his girlfriend. He ran his fingers through her white hair. "Great morning for a prophecy to tell us how we'll die."

Skylar poked his chest. "Stop it."

"I'm joking."

"Joke about something else."

"Fine. But in all seriousness today is very important," Jack said.

"You sound worried."

"We have to catch a fox." Skylar stared at him, not understanding. "Foxes are hard to catch, mainly because they are fast and shifty."

"Like you?" Skylar asked.

Jack nodded. "Like me. It's probably going to come down to me somehow," Jack picked Dionysus' spool of thread off of the bedside table, "And then there's this."

Skylar took the spool from him and put it back on the table. She cupped his face with both hands. "What's the matter? Jack, you've never let any of us down. You're not about to start now."

"That's not entirely true."

"Yes it is, Jack." Skylar kissed him softly. "And you know it."

Jack wasn't so sure. Clark died protecting Skylar and Jack wasn't there. Ryder sacrificed himself for them all and Jack wasn't there. In his mind, that was a trend, a theme, and a horrible one at that. But trends have exceptions, and can be reversed. Jack looked at the spool on the table. This seemed like his chance.

* * *

The Marathon's heroes stood in the shadow of Panama Viejo's derelict Spanish tower, where once upon a time conquistadors stood watch over the Pacific coast. The weather could have passed for a Long Island summer, despite being the middle of September. It was refreshing breathing the warm, light air after their trip to Canada.

A bustling, colorful city sat on a neighboring peninsula. Jack climbed onto a crumbling stone wall. On his left spread a forest, and on his right the Pacific Ocean stretched as far as he could see. A column of oil tankers crawled across the horizon on their way to the Panama Canal.

The ruins were deserted, aside from a few mortal tour groups, who gave the heroes long, puzzled stares. A few even snapped pictures of the oddly dressed, tired looking teenagers.

No monsters challenged them. There was no sign of the Fox or the _Hephaestus_.

"That was an underwhelming entrance," Dax said.

"So, what now?" Jenni asked.

"Let's call some attention to ourselves," Dax said, "If monsters didn't come running as soon as they saw the _Marathon_, we'll need to give them some encouragement."

"How many monsters are we talking about here?" Percy asked.

"Yeah, don't we only want one monster?" Jack asked.

"Maybe there's a bell in the tower," Skylar said, "Jenni, come check it out with me."

The girls disappeared into the dark archway of the tower. Percy was making whirlpools in the surf, but his eyes were concentrating on something else. Then he let the water calm.

"I have an idea," he said, "Annabeth, give me your cell phone."

Annabeth threw it to him. He dialed the operator's number and asked to be connected to the nearest delivery pizza joint. Jack paced in a circle, the spool of thread feeling heavy in his pocket. Images of the last time he was in Panama flashed through his mind. Thousands of monsters clawing and tearing at each other to pick through the wreckage of the other ships looking for demigods to devour. Jack heard the screams of his friends being slaughtered by the giants. But the scariest part was remembering how many monsters – still numbering in the hundreds – fled after Dax and Ryder's tornado display. How many of them were still around? And how angry were they?

Percy hung up the phone and gave it back to Annabeth. "Now, we wait."

A few minutes later, a loud clanging came from the old tower. Jack looked up, and saw Skylar waving down from five stories above. There was no hiding now.

A loud rustling came from the treeline. Jack drew his bow and took aim. A pair of hellhounds emerged, scanning the base of the tower. One noticed the demigods and began growling. Jack released the arrow, which flew across the ruins and impaled the first hellhound in the chest. It disintegrated with a whimper. The other monster turned and fled into the trees.

Percy drew riptide and stood next to Jack. "That's right. Go tell your friends the Heroes of Olympus are here."

Jack looked to the sky, hoping to spot a speck that was the _Hephaestus_ and not a jumbo jet. "Not all of them."

* * *

"This is as fast as she'll go," Keenan said.

Jason groaned and paced the deck, his hair whipping around in the wind. The _Hephaestus_ was cruising low through the air, nearly clipping the tops of the trees.

Frank walked over and put a hand on Jason's shoulder. "We're almost there. Save your energy for a fight."

"Let's hope we don't even have to fight," Keenan said.

"You really think there won't be a fight?" Celina said. She was standing at the bow, her back to them.

Jason sneered at her and resumed his pacing. Piper and Hazel were below, sparring in the armory. Keenan's monitors started beeping.

"Keegs?" Jason asked.

"We've got motion. Something big coming right at us," Keenan said. He called Piper and Hazel over the intercom.

Jason and Frank donned their armor and brandished their swords. Keenan ran to ballistae and climbed in. Celina didn't move.

The treetops exploded around them. From every direction gryphons flew into the air, their eagle wings carrying them up over the Hephaestus. Then they plummeted towards the deck.

Jason rolled away as one beast targeted him. It crashed face-first into the wooden planks, and Jason disintegrated it with a single swipe. A screech came from above him. Another gryphon was nearly on top of him. Jason didn't have the time to raise his sword.

A flash of light, and the gryphon fell to the deck next to Jason. From its side protruded an arrow made of… light? The arrow disintegrated with its victim.

Celina stood at the bow, a bow made of pure light in her hands. She summoned arrow after arrow and felled gryphon after gryphon. Past her, a dark shape was hurtling towards the ship, growing bigger with every second.

"Celina!" Jason called.

She wheeled around and saw the approaching enemy. It was a black dragon, larger than any form Frank had ever shifted into. A long spear of light formed in her hand. She hurled it at the dragon and pierced its shoulders. The beast's howl of pain sounded like a mixture of bone and glass shattering.

As it passed over the ship, its outline was less clear to Jason. The dragon seemed hazy, like its body couldn't contain all of its essence. It appeared to be a shadow – a mean, deadly shadow. Could they kill a shadow?

Jason manipulated the air and pulled another attacking gryphon to deck before stabbing it in the side.

"We're here!" Keenan called.

Below the ship, the forest ended. An old, battered tower stood overlooking the coast. The crew of the Marathon stood in the ruins at the tower's base. They were battling an onslaught of monsters, which were streaming out of the trees to charge them.

A thump rattled the whole deck. The shadow dragon snapped at Jason, who rolled away. Piper ran forward and slashed at the dragon's side. Her sword passed through the shadow, disturbing it, only for the scales to solidify once her sword passed through. The dragon's tail whipped around and knocked Piper to her knees. A claw raised up to crush her.

An orb of light smashed into the dragon's hand and exploded. The shadowy claw was blasted apart, but it did reform, although much slower than when Piper had attacked. Wary of Celina's power, it roared and then leapt off the deck to join the fight on the ground.

"Frank, Hazel, get down there!" Jason said as he dodged another gryphon, "Piper, you too!"

Piper thrust her sword up into the belly of another flying beast. "But –"

"Now!"

Frank, in the form of a giant eagle, flew next to the ship so that Hazel and Piper could climb on, and they descended. The ballistae barked as Keenan took aim at the monsters below.

"Celina, why are we fighting shadows?" Jason asked.

"It is not a shadow. It _is_ a dragon, but it is shrouded in the Death Mist of Tartarus," Celina said, "Right now, I'm the only one who can kill it."

A gryphon landed between them. It hissed at him. "Awesome."

Jason parried a swipe of the gryphon's claw. He stabbed at it but missed. Its other claw came up and raked his sword arm. Jason cursed. An enemy this weak should never be able to hurt him. His sword whipped forward and pierced the monster's heart. It disintegrated around the blade.

Another gryphon streaked toward him. Unable to raise his sword in time, Jason tumbled backward as the monster collided with him. His sword skittered across the deck and then into the open air. Every freaking time.

The gryphon was on top of him now. It snapped at his face with its beak. Jason caught each half with a hand. Groaning from the effort, he fought to push the gryphon off of him.

On the bow, Celina was standing on the railing, her back to Jason. "I have to go," she said and then she stepped off the ship into empty air.

"Celina!"

* * *

Jack's arrow struck the first giant in the forehead. The monster fell to the ground and disintegrated.

Shortly after the hellhound had retreated into the woods, the treeline was trampled by monsters of all shapes and sizes. They came as a massive wave. Jack could see, even from this distance, the burning hate in their eyes. They remembered the _Marathon_. If only they were afraid instead of pissed.

Jack launched as many arrows as he could, but there were too many to hold back alone. Soon, they were surrounded. Percy pulled water into the air and smashed a squad of monsters with a giant salty fist.

"Percy, Dax, give me a wall!" Q yelled. He spun through monster ranks wielding a spear staff with a blade on either end.

The sons of Poseidon lifted part of the ocean into the air and pushed back the first monster wave. They shaped the water to act as a funnel, leaving a small opening in the wall for the monsters to attack through. As the water solidified, the wall was ten feet tall and just as deep.

"Cover me," Q said.

He ran forward towards the opening in the water. Jack ran around him, knocking away attacks and slashing monsters into little golden flecks. They reached the opening. Monsters disintegrated around them, seemingly without reason. Jack smiled. Annabeth and her invisibility cap.

Q touched one wall with his hand. Foot by foot, the water froze, taking the load of Percy and Dax. The trio charged across the twenty foot gap between the walls. Q froze the rest of the suspended water in kind.

"Not bad, kid. Not bad at all," Dax said, breathing heavily.

The six heroes spread out along the gap in the ice, fending off every monster that dared to attack. And boy were there a lot of them. Jack imagined his kill count had to be nearing triple digits when Skylar called out, "They're here! Look!"

The _Hephaestus_ was quickly closing the distance. They were under attack as well. Shapes flew around the ship – attacking monsters. Flashes of bright light came from the deck. A large black dragon was harassing the other heroes.

A brighter flash bounced off the clouds above. The dragon lifted from the deck of the _Hephaestus_ and dove towards the middle of the monster army. A large eagle flew towards them.

Hazel and Piper jumped off the eagle to rejoin their friends, but there was no time for hugs. The monster army was on them instantly. Frank took off in pursuit of the other dragon.

The black dragon returned to the air and flew towards the heroes on the ground. Jack raised his bow and launched a flurry of arrows, which all passed right through their target.

"Jack, you can't hurt it!" Hazel yelled to him.

What? That didn't make any sense. How were they supposed to kill it then?

The dragon peeled off at the last second and smashed through a large section of the ice wall, doubling the size of the opening. Then it took off towards the _Hephaestus_.

"You've got to be kidding me," Percy said.

The dragon appeared to be attacking from below the _Hephaestus_. Then a figure leapt off the bow, intending to meet the dragon in the air. But it didn't look like Jason. It looked like a girl.

As the girl fell towards it, the dragon opened its maw wide, ready to swallow her whole. Right before the jaws snapped shut, a huge flash of light emanated from the girl. When it faded, there was no dragon, only a limp girl plummeting towards the earth.

"Where's Jason?" Piper asked.

"My gods, she's going to fall," Annabeth said.

"No she's not," Jack said.

He heard Skylar start to protest but was out of earshot before she said a word. Jack's feet carried him faster than he had every run before. He barreled his way through hellhounds and telekhines. Quick check up. She was still in the air. Good. Jack ran up a giant and leapt off its head, landing with a somersault without losing speed.

The girl was about to crash, but Jack was so close. Almost there. Almost there. Jack knocked over a pair of empousai. Wait, how was he supposed to catch her?

_THUMP!_

The girl landed in Jack's arms mid sprint. Her sudden weight sent them both tumbling forward, spitting up dust and scattering monsters. But they were in one piece.

Aware that they weren't out of danger yet, Jack sprung to his feet. He pulled the girl up next to him. She was weak, delirious, her eyes barely open. He couldn't sprint through this dense an army carrying dead weight.

She muttered, "Celina, daughter of He- He-"

Jack drew his silver dagger, holding Celina in his other arm, as monsters circled them. "Yeah, that's great. Any chance you can do your flash! Poof! No more monsters trick again?"

"Celina, daughter of –" then her head rolled out to Jack's shoulder. She was unconscious.

"Of course. Take your time. We'll just wait for you to wake up," Jack said. He waved his dagger at the snarling monsters, "Hey! Stay back! This is the, uh, Special God Dagger of Apollo. If I touch any of you with it, you explode, and take the nearest ten of your friends with you to Tartarus."

The monsters stopped, confused for a second. They began muttering and shoving each other.

"He'ssssss slying," a draconae woman said, pointing her own dagger at Jack, "Get him."

"Hey, if you let me go, I can get you and all your friends the best speech therapist on Olympus." Jack ducked as a spear flew over his head and disintegrated a hellhound behind him. "Tough negotiator. I can get you Hercules Busts Heads seasons four, five, _and_ six with the bobblehead set included. No charge."

Just when Jack was trying to imagine which of these monsters would kill him fastest and least painfully, lightning blasted a dozen monsters into bits and pieces.

Jason landed gracefully next to him. He had no sword.

"Long time no see, Sparky," Jack said.

Jason scoffed. "No, thank you for saving me, Jason?"

"Nah, I totally had it under control."

Jason grunted and stood back to back with Jack. "What was your next move going to be then?"

A large form cast a shadow over them. A giant eagle, Frank, landed roughly beside them.

Jack smirked at Jason. "I was just stalling until my ride showed up."

Frank squawked as if to say _I am not a taxi!_

"Yeah, yeah. Just get us out of here," Jack said.

* * *

Frank landed on top of a group of telekhines, who disappeared in a giant poof. Jack slid off Frank's back, careful not to drop Celina, who was still unconscious. The others spread out in a circle around them.

Skylar and Hazel ran forward and grabbed Skylar, then carried her towards the tower. Q went to cover them.

A screeching howl overpowered the sound of the battle. Everyone stopped moving and turned to the trees. The trees parted to reveal a silver fox with eyes like coal, standing at almost twenty feet tall. Its lips parted and quivered in a low growl. Its eyes were locked on Jack.

"We have to hunt that?" Percy said.

_No, I do_, Jack thought.

"That must be the Teumessian Fox," Annabeth said, "Dionysus sent it to destroy Thebes. It was designed by the gods so that it could never be caught."

The _Marathon's_ ballistae coughed, launching a projectile of Greek fire at the Fox.

"No!" Piper yelled.

Faster than Jack's eyes could follow, the Fox shuffled to the right. The missile streaked into the forest and exploded, destroying a city block of trees. Greek fire began to spread. The Fox howled louder and stalked towards the tower.

"No, we can't kill it," Piper said, "Gods, we're supposed to hunt it!"

"Yeah, we got that. Any ideas?" Dax said.

Piper stamped her foot. "No, we aren't even supposed to kill it. Helios said the hunt is about where it takes you, not about the end. We are supposed to follow it.

"Helios?" Dax asked.

"Follow?" Jack said quietly. He turned back to the Fox. It looked at him with those black eyes, lips curled in a snarl. The tail wagged slowly.

Jack pulled the spool of white thread from his pocket.

"Ariadne's thread," Annabeth said, "Which Theseus used to lead himself out of the labyrinth."

Jack knew exactly what he had to do. "Frank!"

The eagle swooped down and shifted back into demigod Frank. "What's up?"

Jack pulled out a little section of the thread. "I need you to be something strong, real strong. But I also need you to be able to hold onto this." He gestured with the thread.

Frank nodded. His form grew and morphed until a seven foot silver-back gorilla stood in front of Jack. Frank gingerly held onto the spool and snorted.

Jack tied the end of the thread to his belt and then turned to face his friends. He pointed at the monsters that Jason, Jenni, and Percy were holding back. "Uh, have fun with these guys. I won't be long – probably."

"Be careful," Annabeth said, "If you run into trouble, come back."

Jack nodded. But he knew there was no coming back for help, for a breather. The thread had one use. He had one chance to hunt this Fox. He had that demigod gut feeling telling him that whatever was at the end of the hunt - good or bad - was going to be crucial for the rest of the quest. Jack took a deep breath, tugged on the thread to test his not, then charged at the Fox.


	14. The Chase

**A/N: I'm so sorry that it's been so terribly long since I posted a chapter. I've been crazy busy and was in Denmark for a month. Long Story. Anyway, here's the next installment. Please read and enjoy!**

**The Chase**

Jack knelt in a bush at the edge of a clearing. The sun poked through the treetops, lighting up a patch of the otherwise dark forest. Leaves twirled through the air around him. The wind gently lifted his hair off his forehead. Otherwise he was still.

The hair on the back of Jack's neck stood straight up. That Fox was here. Somewhere. Jack could feel its presence. Those big red eyes were scanning the trees just like his own were doing now. One of them would have to make a move. Only the Fox had the luxury of time.

A bush to his right ruffled. Leaves parted and a black jaguar slinked into the clearing. Jack's grip tightened on his dagger. The jungle cat paced towards the center of the clearing then stopped. Its lips peeled back in a silent snarl. It's back arched and claws dug into the dirt. The jaguar's gaze settled in Jack's direction but not quite on him.

_Could it be behind me? _

Jack breathed deeply. _Do not move_.

With a final hiss, the jaguar darted to the other side of clearing and disappeared.

Jack turned his head as far back as he could without shifting his weight. There was no hulking silver form waiting to snap its jaws on him. He released his breath.

A branch shifted above him. A twig smacked the top of his head.

_No. No way._

Wincing, Jack peeked upwards. The only animal in the tree was a brown sloth, who must have shifted in his sleep. Jack almost laughed at himself. Take it easy.

_Could I have lost it? No. It wants me to follow it._

Careful to stay hidden, Jack started to shift around the edge of the clearing. The Fox didn't know where he was, or he'd be dead already. He still could surprise it. And it would never expect an aerial attack.

Jack scaled the nearest tree, taking extra care to keep quiet. It was slow going. The branches were so thick and woven together that it was almost a floor. As long as he stayed quiet, Jack would have no problem finding his target.

He wasn't wrong. Only a few branches later, Jack found himself above the silver beast, which was sitting almost opposite where Jack had been minutes before. It was strange seeing such a large animal so effortlessly motionless, its legs bent and ready to pounce, eyes wide searching for any sign of the trailing demigod.

Then Jack realized he didn't have a Phase 2. He wasn't supposed to – and couldn't if he wanted to – kill the animal. He was supposed to follow it somewhere. But Jack would rather do that on his terms than the Fox's.

Jack reached into his pocket and removed a small black cube – one of Dax's transforming rubix cubes. For the love of Zeus please be loud.

Jack clicked the small white button and dropped the cube through the branches. It landed in a pile of leaves next to Fox. Nothing happened.

_C'mon_.

The Fox raised its head and turned towards the sound. It sniffed at the cube. Nothing happened.

_Come on!_

Jack could see his reflection in the Fox's white fangs as it locked onto him. He looked terrified. The beast growled. The cube did nothing but blink.

"Way to go, Dax." Jack drew his bow as he stood up on the branches. He let one arrow fly. The silver tipped connected with the cube, and it exploded.

Greek fire ripped apart the clearing. With a howl, the Fox was on its feet and running. Jack's tree took the brunt of the blast. The trunk started to collapse. Jack leapt and grabbed onto a neighboring branch. The fire was spreading up this tree too. It groaned under Jack's weight. He swung up and onto it, barely keeping his balance.

With one more leap, Jack was on a stable tree. There was nothing he could do about the fire. He started running across the branches after the Fox.

The Fox wasn't trying to evade him now. It ran as fast as it could in a straight line. For such a usually graceful animal, it smashed through branches and shouldered aside tree trunks with ease.

Up ahead, a patch of light shown through the dense web of branches. It grew larger and brighter the closer Jack ran. He had no idea what was on the other side. The Fox didn't show any sign of slowing, so Jack pressed on.

It didn't really dawn on Jack exactly how high he was. That is, until he was two steps from the opening. Then the light dimmed to reveal emptiness, a drop, and then another tree line on the other side of the gap. The Fox was directly under him now. Jack took another step and then launched himself through the opening and into empty air.

Beneath Jack, a river nearly twenty feet across separated the two swaths of jungle. At first, he thought this was a trick. The Fox had stopped short. Jack would splash down and be carried away. He would fail.

But then the Fox burst through the trees and leapt up and over the river. Jack reached the peak of his jump and began to fall, on a direct collision course with the airborne Fox. Jack pulled his dagger out from belt.

Jack stabbed downward, praying that his knife would sink where his arrows didn't. The silver of the blade blended in with the Fox's fur. The beast howled as the knife found purchase. Jack smiled for a moment before the rest of his body slammed onto the Fox's hard back. The wind was driven out of him and red swam in his vision. Jack groaned and used all of his energy to hang onto the knife handle with both hands.

A few seconds later, Jack was thrown into the air and slammed again as the Fox landed. It didn't even break stride as it tore into the trees yet again. Branches ripped at Jack's hair and clothes. He squeezed his eyes shut.

Jack heard a crunch as left shoulder smashed against something so unforgiving Jack could only assume it was a tree trunk. His left hand slipped off the knife. His right fingers burned. He imagined his knuckles turning white and stretching.

Another branch raked his back. His fingers slipped. Jack was hanging on by his fingertips now. The Fox only seemed to be gaining speed. Jack tried to open his eyes, but everything was a blur of green and red and silver.

An image flashed into his mind. His friends, standing around the Marathon's deck, waiting for him. Jenni and Piper were trying to calm Skylar down. Annabeth and Dax talked quietly to the side, discussing worst case scenarios and how to move forward. Percy angrily throwing rocks into the air for Jason to zap. Eventually they'd follow the string to find Jack's broken and bleeding body in the middle of the Amazon. The Fox was nowhere to be found. It was over. They'd failed.

_No_.

Jack squeezed his right hand, wrapping it around the blade until he had a tight grip. All the joints in his arm felt like stretched laffy taffy.

Then the Fox stopped.

Well, it didn't stop so much as it threw the emergency brake on. The Fox dug its claws into the dirt and bent low. Jack's momentum whipped him forward hard enough to dislodge the knife and send him airborne once again.

Jack landed with another crunch. He moaned and tried to sit up. His left arm was useless, the shoulder exploded with pain when he lifted it. His right arm felt rubbery, too exhausted to feel pain, but it supported him enough to let him get to his knees.

A gust of sour smelling air blasted Jack's face. He raised his head slowly. The Fox's bared fangs were only a foot from his face. It snorted again, and Jack had to resist the urge to throw up.

"If you're going to eat me," Jack said, "At least don't use me for a tissue first. Trust me, boogers don't taste as good as they look."

The Fox tilted its head, its black eyes studying Jack. Jack stared back, defeated. There was nothing he could do to escape if the thing decided to eat him.

Suddenly, the Fox growled. Its jaw opened –

_Whelp. This is it. I hope they have Xbox in Hades. _

– and snapped shut, only inches from Jack's face.

The Fox made a dissatisfied grunt and sauntered past Jack. Its tail swung and hit Jack on his right shoulder, nearly toppling him to the ground again.

After steadying himself, Jack let out a deep breath. He closed his eyes, more than in need of a short nap – _No_!

Jack turned his head, and watched the back of the Fox disappear into a large cave. Above the entrance, an Ancient Greek sign hung. _Dodona_. Annabeth could figure that one out.

"Hello there," said a voice on Jack's left.

Seated on a rotting log was a man with long white hair wrapped in a ponytail. His full beard was the same color and ran down his jawline, coming to two extended points on the corners of his chin, like soft, snowy chin-horns. However, his eyebrows were dark as night. His eyes were a dark purple, like clouds as the sun finally set.

The man stood and smoothed his black tunic. His smile wasn't forced, but looked standard, like every person or even god the man met deserved the same treatment from him.

"Are we going to be friends?" Jack said as he struggled to his feet, "Or can we skip the chit chat."

"I can't say we'll be friends. I hate to say I have none. Perhaps Akhyls, but that's because she feeds off of me, much like a whale's barnacles. Commensalism, it's called. Do you know much biology?"

"No, it wasn't my best subject."

"I suspect recess was your best subject, no?" The man smiled again. He waved his hand, dismissing the thought. "A pity though. Biology and chemistry is so interesting. Perfect, observable cause and effect. Science, nature – they are blameless you see. People are not."

The white-haired man began to pace around his log. Jack sneered and flashed his dagger. "Neither are gods."

"Precisely, but that is because you have a conscience, as do immortals. Too bad, it would make things much easier – to make it all black and white. But then they wouldn't keep me around either."

"I'm wondering why they do at all," Jack said. His shoulder burned with every shift of his weight. He did not have the patience to deal with this guy. _Whoa. I sound like Dax – all gritty and impatient_.

"Bear with me, young hero." The man stopped and looked at Jack sympathetically. "Yes, you're hurt. Come now, let's do this before I make you suffer any more than I have to."

The man took Jack by his good arm and led him into the cave. The sunlight faded as they moved deeper into the tunnel, which was still it on the inside. Crystalline growths were everywhere, sparkling with little white lights that resembled stars. The light seemed to come from within the crystals themselves.

They came to a fork in the tunnel, where it split into two. The one on the left was as sparkly as the one they came down. The right tunnel was considerably darker.

"I'm going to go out on a limb," Jack said, looking at the man, "We're going into the dark."

"If you only knew, young hero. You'll go down the left path in time. Most likely, not definitely. But no matter what path you take, every step from here on out will only get darker." For a moment, the man almost looked sad. A little guilty even. "But you shall see, or maybe not." He laughed at his own joke. "Come."

There were still enough crystals in the darker cave to see, barely. Jack could walk easily, but his guide was only a silhouette next to him.

"Where are we going?" Jack asked.

"To get your reward."

"What is it?"

"You'll see. Only those pure and blameless can wield it."

"Who are you?"

"Momus."

"Never heard of you."

"You're not the first, and you won't be the last." They came to a stop. Crystals on the ceiling reflected in a large still pool in front of Jack. "You do know me by my other name. Blame."

Momus evaporated into shadow next to Jack.

"What is this? Where'd you go?" Jack said as he brandished his dagger, which caught the light of the crystals.

"You cannot see where the blame lies. You must to even hope of finding me." Momus' voice seeped out of the shadows to surround Jack.

"I don't' care about finding you."

"Then you'll never have your reward, and you shall fail in this quest. That blame will fall squarely on your shoulders."

Jack gripped his dagger tighter. He hated the gods' little games. Leave the puzzles for Dax and Annabeth and anyone who wanted them. But then, that's probably why he was the one in the cave. The easiest to test and pull at.

"What do you want?"

"Step to the pool, hero. See."

Jack took a few hesitant steps and stood at the side of the pool. The water shimmered. Like a movie, a battle rippled across the pool. The battle for Olympus. In one corner, Poseidon deflected Enceladus' spear and Ryder slashed at him with his flaming whip. Thalia and Jason were chased by Porphyrion, while Ares followed launching taunts at the giant's back. Jack gulped. He and the roman, Octavian, were back to back, trading blows with a pair of giants.

The image of Jack cried out as a blade nicked his leg. Octavian instinctively checked on him, and the giant struck him down.

"Who is to blame?" Momus asked. His voice had lost the warmth of earlier.

The image rippled and changed. Octavian sat against the rocks, coughing blood. Jack sat next to him. As Dax ran away, Jack used his powers to heal his legs while Octavian died beside him.

"Who is to blame?"

"The giants! Gaea!" Jack yelled at the cave.

"You could have saved the boy."

"No!" Jack's eyes scanned the cave for any sign of Momus. The god couldn't have simply evaporated. "He was too far gone."

"But you are the son of Apollo, the god medicine. You are the grandson of Mercury, the god of doctors. Surely, you could have done _something_."

Jack's eyes were stuck on the two sitting boys. Blood ran down Octavian's chest. His eyes rolled back. Jack healed his leg and saved himself.

"No, I'm not strong enough. I am not a healer."

"But you could have kept him alive long enough to get him to one of your siblings, no? You obviously have some power. You healed yourself."

"I couldn't!"

But Jack wasn't so sure. He hadn't thought to try that in the middle of battle. He only wanted to fight the giants. If Dax or Percy had told him to try maybe. If they'd told him. Was it his fault? Was Octavian dead because Jack couldn't think on his own?

The image faded to black. Jack searched the room. Nothing moved. The shadows were deep and still. Every instinct in Jack's body told him to run, but based on how tired his legs felt, he wouldn't make it very far.

"Alright," Jack croaked, "What's the point? You just get off on torturing teenage boys, that it?"

"Hardly."

The water in front of Jack rippled again. A giant swung a studded club and bashed Jack into the air. A shimmer. Jason carried Jack through the air and deposited his unconscious body at Will Solace's medic station.

"So?"

Jack mentally cursed himself. He'd learned a long time ago not to ask questions like that.

"I'll do it!" Multiple voices echoed through the cave. In the water, Jason, Percy, Dax, and Ryder stood in a circle. No. Jack didn't want to see this. It was bad enough in his imagination. The real thing might be unbearable.

Ryder voice clashed against Jack's eardrums. _"Tell the others I wish I could've said goodbye. Let Jack down easy for me."_

Ryder turned from the others and ran towards a giant man, who was made of storm clouds and fighting with a giant Gaea. Jack couldn't tear his eyes away. There was a blistering flash, and the water settled back to a still black.

Jack's throat was hot with anger. He blinked tears out of his vision. "What do you want from me? You want me to take the _blame_? Say that it was my fault? Well it wasn't! I wish it was. I wish I could explain why he died, why they all died."

"Then why do you feel guilty?" the invisible god said.

"Because I wasn't there! I couldn't have done anything. I mean, they were fighting primordials for Hades sake."

"You weren't there. You were somewhere else," Momus whispered thoughtfully, "Shall we explore that thought?"

Jack coughed. "No, you don't have to go to that trouble."

The water brightened, but only just. The bow of the Marathon, shrouded in night, materialized. Jack leaned on the railing next to a visibly uncomfortable Clark. Jack started to smile, then remembered what happened only a few short hours later.

"_You gotta protect Skylar for me, okay?" Jack's own voice echoed._

"_You know I will." _

Gods, it had been so long since Jack heard Clark's voice, he nearly burst into tears right then.

"_I need you to swear it," Jack said, "Please?"_

_Clark shook Jack's extended hand. "I swear on the Styx."_

The image whirlpooled and changed. Jack, Skylar and Clark fought back to back to back in an army of monsters. Dax and Jenni's chariot screeched overhead and crashed. Jack took off after it, leaving the other two alone.

Clark swung and killed a hellhound. An empousai raised its claws to gut Skylar, who was fending off an earthborn. Clark reached over and disintegrated the she-demon. Another empousai stabbed Clark, who left his flank open defending Skylar.

"No," Jack whispered.

Clark fell to the ground. Monsters closed around the pair. A flaming whip lashed out and cleared a path. "Fall back to the fountain!" Ryder yelled.

Another ripple. Jack, Skylar, and Percy knelt next to a bleeding Clark.

_"You idiot. Why'd you go and get stabbed?" Jack asked as he ripped off Clark's breastplate._

_Clark coughed, "I promised you I would protect my family."_

Jack slashed his dagger through the water, erasing the image. He was breathing heavy. "Show yourself, it's only fair."

_"You idiot. Why'd you go and get stabbed?" _

_"I promised you."_

_"I promised you."_

_"I promised you."_

"Enough!" Jack yelled, "You've made your point."

"Have I?" Momus said. "I'm not sure. Answer a few of my questions to clarify a few things. That scene was so… complicated."

"I don't think so."

"Why did Clark save Skylar?"

"You heard him. We're family." Jack crossed his arms.

"Yes, but he died to save her. Would you have done the same?"

"For Skylar? Absolutely."

"Ah, so you used the boy. You pulled his strings."

"What?"

"Well, he'd have sacrificed himself for her for the same reason you would."

Yeah, Clark liked Skylar. Big deal. "So?"

"You knew that. You made him promise his life to defend her."

"No. Only if something happened to me. That was the deal."

"But you lived. He didn't."

_I promised you._

"Stop that!"

"Why did Clark die?"

"It was war!"

"Was it your fault?"

"No!"

"But you blame yourself."

"Because I wasn't there! I couldn't help them when they needed me. He made a choice!"

"Say it."

"What?"

"Admit blame. You will have your prize."

Jack almost broke down right there. He sunk to his knees, hands planted on the rocks at the pools edge. Was it his fault? Did he trick Clark? No. That wasn't right. But if he didn't do it on purpose, did it still count?

"I don't want your damn reward." Jack spit in the pool.

"Then you will die! All of your friends will die and it will be your fault. Can you live with that?"

"Sounds like I won't have to."

"I'll make sure mother spares you, so that you can watch and feel that guilt for eternity."

"Who's you mother? She the one I have to kill?"

Momus' laughter rattled off the cave's walls. "Kill? You think you can – I'm sorry, young hero. Bear your guilt now and I will spare you in the future."

Jack's hands gripped the rocks tighter. His left shoulder felt detached. There was a sharp rocking digging into his left knee. But he couldn't move. He was there on all fours, holding himself up against this guilt, which pressed on his back like Momus was sitting on it.

Momus' words floated through his mind. _You cannot see where the blame lies. You must to even hope of finding me._

See the blame. Like the image. Jack shifted his weight onto his bad shoulder with a yelp. He dug in his pocket with his right arm and pulled out a golden drachma. Percy told him a long time ago never to be caught without one, you never knew when you needed to call ahead to camp for a pizza to be ready. This probably counted for more than a pizza.

"See the blame," Jack said. "O Iris, goddess of the rainbow, show me who bears the blame for what Momus has shown me."

"What?" Momus said.

Jack flipped the coin into the pool.

At first, nothing happened. Jack nearly cried in those few agonizing seconds. Then the pool rippled. An image of Gaea's mud body, complete with burning red eyes, solidified in front of Jack.

A woman's voice, like a cool summer breeze, floated into the cave. "Gaea is the one you seek, Momus."

"The shadows are not your domain. Be gone!" Momus bellowed, but his voice shook.

Next to Gaea, another image appeared, this one of Zeus chaining the doors to Olympus.

"And who is to blame for Gaea's waking?" Momus asked.

Jack started to laugh, which only hurt and made him cough again. "Cause and effect, dude. Go back far enough and Chaos breathing life into everything is the reason every little event happens. Sometimes there is no blame. Sometimes schist just happens."

The shadows retreated a little into the cave. Jack could see to the other side of pool, which was only about five feet. There was a shimmer of a silhouette. Jack clasped his dagger and then threw it.

"That is ludacris! Why I – erg!"

The dagger sank into Momus' chest. The god exploded into a cloud of bats, which roared over Jack's head and out of the cave.

Stepping stones rose out of the water. On the other side, next to where the dagger fell, something glowed against the rocks.

With a groan, Jack slowly forced his body to stand, and then gingerly stepped across the rocks. At his feet lay a silver quiver, intricately decorated with glowing golden laurels. In it were arrows that seemed to be made from pure light.

As Jack picked up the quiver, it glowed brighter, illuminating the entire cave. The room was littered with chests overflowing with gold and decaying wooden desks that spilled old scrolls on the cave floor. Then the glow faded and he could only just make out the outlines.

Later. He'd look at that later. The other tunnel. He had to go down the other tunnel and follow the Fox.

Jack's vision swam as he crossed the rocks and headed back down the tunnel. The rock he had knelt on was either still embedded or had cut him to the bone, because he felt hot blood run down the front of his calf. His legs threatened to buckle from exhaustion.

_Sleep_, Jack's bones whispered.

_Not now, guys. There's a world to save_. His shoulder ached in protest.

Jack found his way back to the fork, and then turned down the other tunnel. The bright crystals only made his vision even burrier. But he kept walking, holding onto the wall as a crutch and guide.

After a while he realized his feet weren't grinding on rocks anymore. He blinked a few times. Green replaced the red. He was back in a jungle of some kind. But the towering and unkempt Amazonian trees were gone. Giant hedges and venus flytraps large enough to swallow dinosaurs grew. Purple orchids hung from branches. His feet carried him along the dirt path.

Blue whizzed in front of him. Jack stopped. The outline of a person appeared in front of him. A woman, dressed in a soft sky blue dress. Her silver hair flowed down to her waist.

"Oh dear," her voice was as soft as a feather pillow, "What's happened to you?" She grabbed Jack's elbow lightly. "Come on. You need to lie down. Your friends will be here soon. I hope."

"Friends," Jack repeated dreamily."

"Is my brother okay?" the woman asked.

Jack mumbled incoherently. He had a vague sensation of falling forward towards the ground before blacking out.


	15. Following the Thread

**A/N: Hey guys I'm so sorry its been so long between updates lately. I'm having some serious writer's block about these middle chapters, but it should start to speed up now. I'm getting back into the swing of it. Thanks for being patient and I appreciate the love I'be gotten since the last update.**

**On another note, I'm contemplating a sequel, a final in the trilogy called Heroes of Olympus: Civil War. Let me know if that title alone peak's some interest. I'll post a preview chapter if there's any interest and see what happens if yall would like.**

**Anyway, here is the latest installment.**

**Following the Thread**

The hellhound disintegrated around Annabeth's bone sword, showering Percy with golden flakes.

"Thanks, Wise Girl."

Annabeth smirked and hauled Percy to his feet.

To her right, Dax's blade pierced an empousai, who exploded with a screech. Annabeth wheeled around, ready to fend off another attack, but none came. Panama Viejo had been rendered a wasteland of trampled grasses and torched and uprooted trees, soon to be flooded when Quincy released the frozen wall.

Frank the gorilla, still clutching Ariadne's string, stood in the center of a circle of sweating, panting demigods.

"Thank the gods," Piper choked out, "that's over."

Dax shot her a glare. "Jason check on Q and our new light bulb, will you?" Nothing about his tone made it sound like a question.

Jason's eyebrows furrowed, but he nodded and walked towards the tower with Piper in tow.

The gorilla barked, and then morphed back into Frank. He let out a deep breath and stretched his arms.

"The spool hasn't moved in a long time, guys." Frank shrugged. "Wherever Jack was supposed to go, he's probably there."

"What are we waiting for then?" Percy tried to sound upbeat.

"Frank, I'll take the spool," Dax said, reaching out with his hand, "Get some rest. Take the girl up the ship. Tell Keenan to follow us through the forest."

Frank nodded thankfully. His eyes were bleary, like he hadn't slept in days. He stood there dreamily until Hazel took him by the arm and led him towards the Hephaestus.

"Guys, one more thing," Dax called after them, "As soon as she wakes up, I want to know. We've got a lot to talk about."

* * *

Annabeth quickened her pace, leaving behind a daydreaming Percy. Dax was twenty feet ahead of her, hacking away at any fern or vine that dared get in his way. They'd been walking, or rather speed walking in Dax's wake, for miles.

Skylar wasn't far behind, exhaustion battling her concern for Jack. She didn't seem to have any interest in talking. Piper, Jason and Q brought up the rear, talking quietly.

"They make this look so much easier in the movies," he muttered to himself.

Annabeth eyed the thread tied to his waist. Ariadne's thread didn't reroll into the spool, it just simply shortened as they followed it.

"Dax, dial it back one notch. Everyone's about ready to drop."

"Then they should get on the ships until we're wherever we are supposed to go."

"And leave you alone down here?"

Dax shrugged and refused to look at Annabeth.

Through the treetops, Annabeth could make out the black hull of the Marathon coasting along behind them. Reggie and Charlie were following a transmitter in Dax's watch.

"I'm not wasting any time, Annabeth. Jack's been alone for what? Hours? You saw the size of that thing."

"I'm not worried about Jack."

"Me neither. Not really," Dax said quickly. Annabeth didn't believe him. Dax took a deep breath. "Look, we don't even have half of the prophecy yet. You know, the part about a giant and a titan and whatever else, and we're already dead tired. Including me. I mean that battle was rough, but we've got a lot steeper road in front of us."

"And you're afraid we can't make the climb?"

"I just want everyone to get home safe. I want to be home. At Camp. This fight is different. I don't have that anger powering me through anything and everything this time."

Annabeth groaned. "That's a really ugly color on you."

Dax stopped and gave Annabeth a sideways look. He pulled at his black cloak. "What?"

Annabeth smiled. "I mean, I don't know how you're wearing that thing in the middle of a Panama jungle. But I meant that being such a drama queen doesn't suit you. Lighten up."

Dax sneered. He bared his teeth, but was apparently at a loss for words.

"See? You're tongues gotten slow. Mom would be disappointed."

"Okay. You listen –"

A howl that was nearly a screech pierced the air, sending hundreds of birds into a squawking panic.

"Was that…?" Piper called out.

There was a loud crash behind Annabeth.

"Down!" Dax yelled as he tackled Annabeth to the ground.

Another crash sounded in front of her. Annabeth looked up in time to catch a glimpse of a massive grey flank rushing into the trees. The Fox was back and there was no sign of Jack.

The Fox. The Teumessian Fox. Annabeth tried to think and stay alert at the same time. She and Dax jumped to their feet and stood back to back, swords at the ready.

Dionysus sent it to torture Thebes. It was ordained to never be caught, an eternal pain in the butt for Thebans. What did they do to the wine god again? A rustle to Annabeth's right. She tensed her legs and focused on the spot, ready to roll and stab and whatever it took to stay alive.

Nevermind. How did they kill it? Something to do with Amphitryon.

A deer burst through the foliage where Annabeth was focusing. Percy, with his back turned, turned and slashed at the sound. His blade passed through air over the deer at average monster neck height, leaving Percy with a baffled expression that made Annabeth blush and giggle a little. If only they weren't in the middle of maybe dying. She'd have love to run her hands through his wavy black hair and greedily rip his shirt off –

Stop! Annabeth scolded herself. Amphitryon. Dead. Very, very dead. Not sexy at all. Right.

Piper screamed as the Fox barreled through the woods towards her and Jason. Quinn stepped between them and hurled ice spikes at the beast. The Fox howled as one made contact with its eye. It didn't bleed, but its vision was thrown off for a crucial second and it slowed. Ice rose to encase the Fox's paws and ankles, anchoring it in place.

"Okay. Somebody do something," Q said through gritted teeth. The Fox was struggling against its binds.

"Got anything?" Dax asked.

Annabeth groaned in frustration. Amphitryon didn't kill it. He couldn't but he stopped it. Laelaps. The dog? Yes. Yes! Wait they didn't have a dog.

The demigods closed ranks with Q, weapons drawn but utterly useless.

"It was Amphitryon. He called upon the Golden Hound of Zeus, Laelaps, who was destined to catch any prey."

"A dog? Really?" Q grunted.

"Mrs. O'leary!" Percy yelled.

"No, Percy! Oh!" Piper fumbled in her pocket and produced a silver dog whistle. When she blew it, only a barely audible gust of air came out. The whistle fractured into tiny pieces that were carried away by the wind. "Not too early and not too late."

The Fox ripped one of his front paws out of the ice and swiped towards them. Jason fell backward onto the ground. Startled, Q lost his focus. The other paws cracked their ice bonds. The Fox used its free paw to smash the ice around its other. With better leverage, it freed its final two paws easily.

"You sure about that?" Dax said without taking his eyes off the Fox.

It growled loudly, seemingly angry that its food was playing with it.

The ground rumbled. Annabeth turned to find a Golden Retriever, as large as the Fox, casting a shadow over her and her friends. It raised its head and howled.

The two animals seemed to make eye contact, and stopped moving entirely. No sounds came from either. Then, starting at their eyes, a ripple of energy spread over them. After the ripple passed, the golden fur of the dog and the silver fur of the Fox turned grey and rigid.

Percy stepped towards the retriever and rang his sword on its leg. "No way."

Annabeth moved next to him and reached out with her hand. "Stone. Just like the legend."

"You were holding out on us, Pipes," Jason said with a smile.

Skylar was staring wide-eyed at the now frozen Fox. "But if the Fox is here…"

"I know what you're thinking Skylar. I'm sure he's fine. Jack wasn't supposed to kill it, just follow," Annabeth said.

"Well," Dax said with a lopsided grin, "Ariadne's thread doesn't lead down the thing's mouth, so I'd say he's just fine."

Skylar's jaw dropped. Everyone, even Percy, shuffled uncomfortably.

"What? Lighten up a bit, guys. We've got too much quest left to be getting serious." Dax winked at Annabeth, then ducked under the frozen hound and continued following the golden thread.

* * *

The remainder of the hike was short and comparably uneventful. Jason fell into in some quicksand, but that was funnier than it was dangerous.

Dax still lead the group, trudging through the brush that seemed to thicken with each step taken. Tired and edgy, there were few words. Annabeth focused on the sounds of the forest around her to keep her alert, identifying species she'd only read about. Her eyes darted around, matching real life creatures with their likeness in her books.

Then Annabeth stumbled through a vine into a clearing. An uprooted log perfect for sitting lay in the center. In front of her stretched a cliff face at least a few hundred feet high. Only yards to either side of a dark cave entrance the slate rock was engulfed in vines, moss, and small plants that obscured the cliff unless someone walked right into it.

Ariadne's string led right into the cave.

Above the cave entrance, _Dodona_ was carved into the rock. Annabeth furrowed her brow in frustration. Another ancient myth that was fuzzy in her memory. It was older than the mainstream Olympian stories, nearly old and obscure enough to fade from existence. That much she knew off the top of her head. But she couldn't pull anything else from her exhausted mind.

"Go," Percy said, "I'll wait for the others."

Dax nodded, punched some command for the Marathon into his watch, and then walked towards the cave. Skylar was right behind him.

Annabeth squeezed Percy's hand, and then jogged after them. Even after all this time, Annabeth hated being separated from Percy. She didn't feel fully herself unless they were side by side.

The cave was dark, the only illumination coming from crystals that grew out of the walls. Annabeth stopped for a moment to examine one. The light seemed to be generated inside the crystal itself. It was like nothing she'd seen before. Without the time to properly study it, Annabeth broke off a piece and shoved it in her pocket to tinker with later.

They came to a fork in the tunnel, and followed the thread down the left path. The others would be able to figure it out. They'd be able to follow the footprints.

Footprints?

Annabeth crouched in the tunnel, barely able to make out the partial footprints on the ground. She touched it with her fingers, and then quickly wiped them on her jeans. Blood.

The other five had walked ahead.

"Guys!" Annabeth called after them, pointing at the ground, "Blood."

After seeing the footprints under their own feet, Dax and Skylar took off running. Annabeth, Jason, Q and Piper tried to keep up.

The tunnel spat them out on the other side of the cliff, but it was like they were in a different jungle. Here, the green of the normal Panama forest fought for dominance with purples, and oranges, and browns. Giant versions of plants like the venus flytrap and mangrove tree grew around them. Purple orchids hung from every other branch.

Even the animals were vibrant. Yellow, blue, and green frogs croaked and hopped across low ferns and branches. Toucans circled overhead. A parrot squawked and dove at Dax, causing him to throw himself on the ground and curse the bird. Annabeth was surprised he hadn't just gutted the animal.

They followed a windy path through the new territory, eventually coming to what looked like the center of massive garden. A monster tree three times as tall and eight times as wide as its biggest neighbor spread out before them. Pink flowers grew from its leaves. Birds and mammals of all shapes and sizes chased each other through the web of branches.

Beneath it spread a large pool of water, dotted with lily pads, teeming with small pink fish, and contained by a loose construction of uneven rocks.

A woman with silver hair and a sky blue dress walked near the pool's edge, dropping white petals in the water and singing to herself. In between the demigods and her, Jack was propped up against a large rock. He was bleeding, bruised, and apparently unconscious. Dax and Skylar ran right for him.

Dax slid to a stop at Jack's side, and Skylar knelt on his other.

"Hey, buddy," Dax said so the woman wouldn't hear him. He tapped Jack's face, "C'mon, we need you to wake up."

Skylar ran her hand along Jack's arm and then gingerly touched a fist sized wound on his calf. Jack winced and stirred.

"Hey." Skylar's eyes were wet. Her mouth spread in a large smile.

"Huh? What?"

"Good! You're awake," the woman in blue said. She turned around and nearly fell over. "Oh!"

"Who are you?" Annabeth pointed her sword at the woman.

"Me? I'm Leto," she said, smoothing her dress nervously with her hands. "Are you friends of his?"

Q stepped forward to stand next to Annabeth. His weapon was sheathed. "Yes, sister. Yes we are."

"Quinn!" Leto's eyes lit up. "I knew you were in good hands with these heroes. But tell me, where are the others? There should be more of you."

"They're right behind us," Jason said.

"Oh thank the gods," Leto said.

"So you're not an evil kidnapping sorceress?" Piper asked, her eyes still narrowed in suspicion.

Leto smiled shyly. "Of course not. I'm here to help you."

"Sorry, but that sentence is like a top five red flag for demigods," Jason said, hand gripping his sword tighter.

Annabeth's eyes sized up Leto. Presumably this was the daughter of Koios, Artemis and Apollo's mother. She had Apollo's warm eyes and smile, with the icy hair and grace of Artemis. She'd been helping Q survive in Canada for years. This was no ploy of Atlas or Alcyoneus.

Annabeth said, "Stand down, guys."

Just then, Jack lurched forward groaning. Dax caught him by the shoulders and steadied him.

"Shut. Her. Up," Jack choked out.

"Leto?" Q asked.

Leto's expression darkened. She pointed to Annabeth's right, towards the water. "No. He means her."

Another woman was wading through the ankle deep water towards them. She had burnt orange hair and wore a skimpy dress made entirely of purple orchid vines that trailed through the water behind her.

"I am the Oracle of Dodona," she said, spreading her arms in a welcoming gesture, "Would you like to know how you will die?"


	16. Nico Gets Decomposed

**A/N: I'M BACK! Sorry guys its been crazy here but lets get back on a roll. I will be finishing this story this semester so buckle up. Let's get started with Nico.**

**Nico Gets Decomposed**

Nico had forgotten what death smelled like. As a demigod, you dealt with ichor here and there, some blood, but mostly monster dust, which at worst will send you into a sneezing fit if you're too close to the cyclops you just maimed. So Nico expected Eurynomos' odor to assault his nostrils and floor him. But the god of decomposition emitted a sickly sweet smell. Nico's head swam from its intensity. He raised his stygian blade and bashed it against Eurynomos' purple scythe.

"I'm sure Hades is already planning something very fun for your eternity of punishment, Eurynomos," Nico said as pushed back the scythe and swung again.

Eurynomos blocked Nico's attack and launched a flurry of his own. Nico staggered but deflected them all.

"You assume your father knows all that happens in this realm. Normally, yes, he does. But that is because we are his eyes and ears. And now we serve a different master!"

Nico rolled under a strike and slashed through Eurynomos' tunic. The shadows fell away, only to be replaced with more. He jumped and kicked the god in the chest, sending him reeling backwards.

Eurynomos laughed. "You demigods should understand. Family comes first after all. Except for you, sister."

Ten feet away, Nemesis slashed her whip across the back of the Amphisbaena, who recoiled. She fired a trio of dark projectiles from her revolver that buried into the monster's hide, drawing blood. The Amphisbaena hissed with both heads and spat green poison at Nemesis, who rolled away from the attack.

"We're only half siblings," Nemesis said. She raised her revolver and fired at Eurynomos. He ducked. "Which explains a lot about where we got our looks from."

Nico lunged forward while his opponent was distracted. Or so he thought. Eurynomos sidestepped the blow and raked his scythe across Nico's forearm. His arm exploded with a pain. A bloody gash opened up from his wrist almost all the way to his elbow. The wound wasn't dangerously deep, but the pain penetrated through his whole limb. He dropped to his knees, sword clattering to the black rock.

"Nico! Don't touch it with your other hand," Nemesis called, "It will spread!"

Nemesis wrapped her whip around Eurynomos scythe and pulled him to the ground. She aimed her revolver for a headshot, but the amphisbaena body slammed her forward. She wheeled around, one weapon trained on each opponent.

Nico watched the scene unfold through red and blurry vision. His arm felt like it was melting. No, it was decomposing. He remembered the stories about Kronos' scythe. Even a scrape, and a person's soul could be ripped from their body. Euryonomos' own scythe must have a similar enchantment, but of a much nastier variety.

Fighting the urge to clamp his other hand on the wound, Nico grabbed his sword in his good arm. He advanced toward Eurynomos, who took two bullets in the chest from Nemesis as she ducked more poison.

"Be quick, son of Hades," Eurynomos cackled, "It will consume you if you don't heal. Shadow travel away. Run and save yourself. We'll take care of the Underworld for you. Be gone!"

Anger flooded through Nico's veins, slamming into the poison and causing him to cry out. This rat, this servant of the Underworld thought that he could torture Nico di Angelo, the executor and sole heir to the very throne that gave this beast its power. Eurynomos should be cowering at his feet, not taunting him.

"Eurynomos," Nico heard the coldness of his father take over his voice, "You have abandoned your post. You have taken advantage of the privilege and power that we have granted you."

Shadows marked Nico's footsteps like small fires. His blade connected with Eurynomos scythe, knocking the god backwards. He hammered again and again with his sword. Eurynomos cried out as Nico deflected his counter and slashed him across the chest. Purple shadows leaked out of the wound and disappeared.

Nico noticed the wound in his arm had closed up like it had been stitched.

"You exist because I allow it. Without me, you are nothing. You have no power." Nico brought his sword down and shattered the blade of Eurynomos' scythe. "You are a disgrace, a disease that can no longer be allowed to run rampant. Even Tartarus is too good for you. BE GONE!"

Eurynomos screamed as his essence dissolved before Nico's eyes. The feathers of the cloak fell away one by one and were carried away on the wind. The shadows of Eurynomos' tunic melted in the face of Nico's command, leaving only a mottled purple skeleton which in turn collapsed in on itself and disintegrated into nothing.

Nico staggered. His rage flew out of him chasing the last remaining bits of Eurynomos into the void below them. Chaos could have him now. Nemesis put a hand on his shoulder to steady him.

"You okay?"

Nico shrugged her off. "Yeah."

The amphisbaena hissed as if to say, _hey! I'm still here and ready to be skewered!_

Nico and Nemesis spread out, each of them attracting the attention of one head. Nico dodged poison and swung his sword, lopping off one of the monster's fangs. The snake monster roared as if insulted. It reared back. Nico was ready for it to go into a frenzy, but the amphisbaena never got the chance.

A giant paw slammed down and crushed the monster into golden dust. Nico had to blink a few times to make sure he was seeing things right. A large shimmery head moved towards him. A tongue the size of his body licked his whole front.

"Cerberus!" Nico said.

"Thanatos?" Nemesis said.

Thanatos, the god of death, materialized next to Nico's three-headed pet. He unfurled his wings, revealing a less than pleased expression. His mouth was turned down in a scowl and his gold eyes were cold.

"Sister." Thanatos bowed. He turned to Nico, and his scowl deepened. "Nico di Angelo. I do not trust you, but I am not like my sister. I do not ask for payment for your act.

"Yeah, well, I had to save the world. I had to bring Hazel back."

"Do not lie to me, Nico. Those were not your initial intentions." Thanatos waved his hand. "No matter. It is done. Thankfully for you, your father thinks that you still might prove your worth yet. So I am here to help."

Nico winced. "We had it covered, but thanks."

"No, I mean Cerberus and I will stay here and guard the Underworld while you two go on. The forces of night will attempt to take Hades' palace through this pass. They are coming from Tartarus."

Nico cleared his throat, "What in Hades is going on? I am not taking a single step farther until I get some answers."

Thanatos and Nemesis exchanged a glance.

"Nico," Nemesis said, "We have to stop Night from taking over the mortal world."

"What does that mean""

"With Atlas' help, Nyx has captured Apollo and Hemera," Thanatos continued, "Alcyoneus is down here. He is on the border of Tartarus and the Underworld. He is massing an army to take on your father. Somehow, he is also releasing the children of Night into the mortal world to wreak havoc."

At least the fates had creativity. Every new adventure they just make more and more complicated. They couldn't leave it at one Titan, so they brought them all back, then all of the giants. Now take one of each and throw them in league with a primordial who's captured another primordial! What comes out of that mess? Pain. Suffering. The end of the world. Okay. A usual Tuesday for Nico. They could do this. Maybe.

"And that's on Nemesis and I?"

Thanatos said, "No. You two are to stop the giant. Your friends – "

"They're not my friends," Nico interrupted. Cerberus whimpered.

Thanatos rolled his eyes. "The Heroes of Olympus will take care of the rest. If all goes according to plan, you won't even see them."

"Because that's what we're known for – things going according to plan," Nico huffed, "Wait, who's plan?"

"Your father's, of course. He's recently been brought up to speed. Which is why we're here."

"I'm sure he's thrilled," Nico turned to Nemesis, "Ready?"

Nemesis gave Nico a sideways look. "How's your arm?"

Nico had nearly forgotten about his fight with Eurynomos. All that remained of his wound was a dark scar down the length of his forearm. He wriggled his fingers. All his muscles felt normal, very not decomposed, which was a good sign. He'd felt like a different person in those seconds that he destroyed Eurynomos. Is that what it felt like to be Hades? Having control over the essence of other beings was not a weight Nico would want to bear all the time. He couldn't blame his father for becoming a distant recluse when you can feel the life and death of all the beings around you.

"All good if you are," Nico said.

Nemesis pulled a set of keys from her jumpsuit pocket and clicked a button. Her super-speed motorcycle came roaring out of the red mist and stopped next to them. Nemesis smirked.

"Nico, listen to the Underworld," Thanatos said, "it will take you exactly where you need to go."

Nico nodded and climbed onto the back of the bike. Cerberus barked his farewell. Nico Nemesis revved the engine and took off. guided Nemesis onto a course matching where the tug in his gut was coming from. They drove straight into another cloud of fog. Then suddenly they were flying.

The bike went straight over the edge of a cliff. They were airborne for a few seconds before Nemesis guided them to a landing, on the side of what appeared to be a volcano. Nemesis floored the accelerator and the bike scorched down the nearly vertical cliff face, while she weaved between streams of lava and clusters of boulders.

Nico closed his eyes. They were in Tartarus. _He_ was in Tartarus. _Again_. That much he knew. Nico buried his head into Nemesis' back and held on. He fought down the urge to scream, telling himself that he might alert some big and ugly enemy. In reality, he just didn't want to scream like a four-year-old in front of a goddess who was cackling with joy at their perilous ride.


	17. The Oracle has Good News JK

**The Oracle has Good News... JK**

Everyone stood in silence as the woman approached. The Oracle of Dodona lifted her purple orchid skirt in order to step over the rocks enclosing the pond. She ran a pale hand through her orange hair while her eyes flitted from one hero to the next.

"Nobody?" she said, "No one wants to know how they'll die? I always get one taker."

"Leave," Jack said.

"Not yet, Jack," Leto sneered, "Speak your cursed words, Oracle."

Annabeth watched the goddess grow visibly agitated by the other woman. The Oracle of Dodona was Zeus personal seer before the birth of Apollo by Leto. If Annabeth remembered correctly, Dodona and Koios were the first to have the gift of foresight. Only Apollo and his Oracle of Delphi shared it since.

"In due time," the Oracle said, "Why are you here, Leto?"

"Not for your sake, that's for sure."

"Then step aside."

The Oracle strolled around the semicircle of demigods, pink flowers blooming where her orchid skirt dusted the dewy grass. Her eyes lingered on Dax, then lowered to the ground.

"Whoa."

Annabeth turned to find Percy skidding to a stop behind her, with Keenan and Jenni in tow.

"We, uh, followed the blood," Keenan said.

Jack coughed, "Yeah, let's follow it out of here."

"Go. It matters not. Only one of you must hear the words I have for the lot of you," the Oracle stopped in front of Annabeth, "Will it be you?"

"Try me," Annabeth said while her fingers found comfort on the handle of her sword.

Hades, her team was banged up. Blood dripped from Jack's mouth. Skylar looked to be on the verge of tears and Dax was about to slice another goddess in half. Q was ready to run and hug his sister and Keenan, well, needed about three more days of sleeping.

Percy looked good, but that was nothing new.

"I require a trade," the Oracle smiled, "a sacrifice. One of you must answer my question. Who wants to know how you will die?"

Annabeth's heart started to race. Percy, please don't be the hero this time. Her left hand slipped around his wrist and squeezed.

"Deal," Jenni said and stepped towards the Oracle of Dodona.

To Annabeth's disbelief, Dax was expressionless.

"A daughter of Aphrodite? How unusually noble. Fair enough." The oracle took Jenni's hand in hers. Little lights and sparkles flashed in the Oracle's eyes. Annabeth imagined Jenni's entire life flash across the vision, only to end with a bright firework finale.

"Jenni, you will die on the day that Camp Half Blood burns. You will die at the hands of a demigod, when one friend fails to act and another is too late."

Annabeth thanked the gods that Leo wasn't here to make an inappropriate joke. The color drained from the face of everyone, like the ghost of Ryder had just pranced through the trees. Jenni stood rigid and emotionless.

Jenni bowed. "Thank you, Oracle." She stepped backwards behind Keenan, hands shaking.

"Liar." Jack spit on the ground.

"Careful, boy," the Oracle turned to the injured demigod, "you don't want to be next. As promised, here is your prophecy…

_After night settles in the city of angels,_

_Only the chains of revenge can fell the General._

_A frozen key, split, will seal the Breach,_

_One cage must be tricked, while the other requires a screech._

_Only a sibling and cousin can save the one who walks alone,_

_And the curse of old gold resolved with its own throne_."

"Gold," Jack muttered dreamily.

"Have fun, kids." The Oracle turned and stepped back into the pond. In a few strides, she had disappeared into the mist.

Annabeth stood motionless, unsure whether to address the prophecy or Jenni or Leto first. There was no mention of Alcyoneus thankfully, but that didn't mean that Nico had taken care of the rogue giant. Besides, the General undoubtedly meant Atlas. Were they going to need another sacrifice to get the help from revenge?

The wind nosily blew through the trees and ruffled the grass. The birds had fallen silent, leaving the demigods with only their own silence to compete with.

"So, we're going to Los Angeles," Percy said, "Anyone know if the Yanks are in town?"

"They're not," Keenan said, "but apparently night is."

Percy and Annabeth's eyes met. "Nyx."

"Fantastic," Jack said.

Leto stepped forward into the center of the semicircle with an object clasped in her hands. Her package was covered in black cloth with gold trim. A red hammer was stitched into the center. Her eyes were glued to it. She hesitated and then reached out towards Dax.

"I come with a gift for Dax. From an old friend."

Dax stood at Jack's side and stepped towards the goddess. His face was still blank. This was the longest silence Annabeth had ever seen from her brother.

Leto dumped the cloth into Dax's hands. He carefully unwrapped his gift. A revolver black as night lay in his hands, almost indistinguishable from its cloth covering. It looked like the pistol the captain of a pirate ship would have slung around his waist.

Gold metal traced the edges of the barrel, from the muzzle down to the handle. Along the grip, the gold intertwined in a double helix, not unlike DNA strands. At the base of the handle was a small capsule the same width as the rest of the grip.

The capsule material was clear, but it was very cloudy inside. However, Annabeth could make out something black resting at the center.

"How did he know?" Dax asked.

"He's a god," Leto said. "He finished it so that you 'don't get any of his homies killed making it yourself.'"

One edge of Dax's lip twitched in something close to a smile. He pointed at the capsule. "And this, it recharges –"

"using monster dust," Leto finished. She nodded to Dax, who was weighing the revolver in his palm, before turning to Jason. "Son of Zeus, remember what your father told you."

Jason's face paled to an even more ghostly shade. He stole quick glance at Dax before nodding to Leto before inching towards Piper. Piper's eyes remained trained on Leto.

"Quincy, I'll be in touch soon," Leto said.

Q's eyes shimmered. "Okay, sister."

"Anything else?" Jack asked.

"No," Leto said, "But for Zeus' sake someone get him some ambrosia."

Annabeth looked at Jack, before turning back to Leto, who had already evaporated. Annabeth finally released her grip on her sword. "I hate it when they do that."

* * *

"Let me see if I'm hearing you right, Percy. You want our ships to fly directly to Los Angeles to fight a Primordial and whatever army of demons she conjures up from that black pit right now?"

"Yes, Dax."

Annabeth and Percy sat at a table in the Marathon's cafeteria. Meanwhile, Dax paced around the white room ranting and occasionally slamming a fist on the table. Everyone else was either sleeping or avoiding the powder keg argument that had evolved. Annabeth was rapidly losing patience.

Dax stopped to stare at Percy. "Have you looked around? We're wounded, we're tired, the Hephaestus' canon is damaged, and we have no clue what we're up against! Besides, you heard the Oracle. Camp will burn! We have to help them!"

Percy said, "Dax, we've had worse odds before."

"If we don't stop Nyx here, then Camp _will_ burn," Annabeth said. "This is how we stop it."

Dax's eyes darted between Percy and Annabeth. "I am not flying one inch towards Nyx until that girl wakes up and tells me what the Hades was up with that dragon."

"Well then you're in luck, Mutt."

The Marathon's cafeteria doors swung silently shut. The blond girl Jack saved stood with her arms crossed across her chest. Jason stood behind her.

"Excuse me?" Dax snarled.

The girl strode across the white tile towards them. "Call me girl, and I'll call you Mutt. My name is Celina."

Celina's long blond hair cascaded in waves down her back. Her bronze skin made Percy's olive tones look bleached.

"So you're the daughter of Helios?" Percy asked.

Celina brushed her golden hair behind her ears. She nodded to Percy. "That dragon you're so curious about was just a normal dragon until it was given the gift of the Death Mist."

"So we're dealing with Akhlys. Great," Annabeth said.

Dax walked a few steps to an easel, upon which he propped a whiteboard. He scribbled Akhyls at the bottom of a long list which started with Nyx and ended with Momus, who had a large red X through his name.

"Are we missing any other angry gods or goddesses?" Dax grumbled.

"We have to assume that most, if not all of Nyx's and Erebus' kids are against us. Eris, Oizys, Geras - we can't rule any out," Annabeth said.

Dax's jaw dropped. "Erebus?"

Celina shook her head. "He will not fight. But where Night goes, the Dark goes too. His children will want a horse in this fight."

Jason eyed Celina. "You talk like you know them personally."

Dax rubbed his forehead. "Jason, remind me of what exactly your dad told you."

Jason gulped. "That there would come a time when you and I would be tested like never before. We will have to hold the breach until it can be sealed."

"I'm really really starting to hate this job." Dax had a white-knuckled grip on his dry-erase marker.

Celina waved her hands above her head. "You need to calm down, man. We aren't even close to done yet."

"Hey, sorry, I had a bad day while you were napping."

"Napping!" Celina stood up. "I saved your whiny a-"

"Who are you calling whiny?" A faint green glow started to shimmer around Dax.

Celina pointed at Dax. "Uh, you, tough guy."

"You don't know a thing about me."

"You have no idea, Dax."

"This is my ship. If you have a problem with that, get off."

"You sure, buddy?" Celina asked, "You need me to win this fight. Actually, without me there's no fight. You people go to slaughter. Then everybody dies back at your camp, and on your ships, and in your cities. Your parents die, or worse. Are you sure you want me to step off this ship? Because if I go, there's is no finding me again."

Annabeth was stunned. Who was this girl? No one ever talked to Dax like that, mainly because he tended to break things and cause monsters and giants to explode. This girl seemed to understand that, but was absolutely unafraid. How could Dax scare the Olympian Council but not some daughter of an irrelevant god?

Dax stared at Celina as his aura glowed brighter. Celina crossed her arms, looking unimpressed. That's not good. That's a bad idea.

The wooden cafeteria doors burst open, hitting the hinges and swinging back with such force that Q was almost thrown into the hallway. His eyes were wide with panic and he was playing with her fingers nervously.

"You guys need to see this, now. Get to the deck."

Annabeth followed Percy and Jason out of the cafeteria, with Dax not far behind. Celina pulled up the rear, not visibly worried or excited about Q's announcement.

The demigods barreled up the stairs and onto the deck, where Jenni and Piper were waiting. Both girls were staring up into the sky, jaws hanging and forgotten about.

The sun was already halfway swallowed by the horizon in the west. But shadows were creeping rapidly across the deck. In the southern part of the sky, coming towards the Marathon and Hephaestus, a chariot as large as a yacht flew. The chariot was pulled by two enormous black horses, galloping across the purple clouds and orange sky.

At the reins of the chariot stood a woman composed of shadows and ash. Black wings sprouted from her back. Like the last time Annabeth had seen her, the pilot's eyes shone like quasars. A long cloak trailed from her shoulders and behind the chariot. The cloak seemed to absorb all the light of the sun.

Nyx.

As the chariot flew, only darkness spread in its wake. Clouds evaporated and replaced by stars. In a few short minutes, Nyx had passed over the ships, leaving them under the cover of night. The sun's light all but disappeared.

No moon replaced the sun in the sky. Even Artemis had no power this night.

A screech came from the port side. Annabeth ran to the railing. Half a dozen shadowy wraiths were streaking towards the Marathon, each wielding two stygian iron swords. They had no faces or identifying characteristics. They were simply shadows of souls that Nyx had taken.

Light blinded Annabeth for a moment. She blinked away the white spots to see the wraiths dissolve as a blast of light pierced their bodies and destroyed them.

Celina stood at Annabeth's right, one hand outstretched. She turned to Dax. "You still don't want my help?"

Dax nodded to Celina and walked back towards the staircase his own black cloak barely distinguishable in the dark. That was as much respect as Celina was going to get from him. At least they'd stop fighting.

Annabeth looked at the Hephaestus, where Frank, Keenan, and Skylar watched. She made brief eye contact with Skylar. The daughter of Hecate ran a hand through her silver hair.

_Let's go home_, she mouthed to Annabeth.

Annabeth tried to force a reassuring smile. That's all she could muster.


	18. Nightmare Con

**A/N: It's summer (halfway, oops) so I'm back. Still going. Slow but sure, sorry.**

**Nightmare Con**

Don't run. Don't push the knee. He'll have to run soon. Run very _very_ fast, if he had to guess. Juke out of the way of swords and spears and arrows. Maybe even land a high jump or deliver a crushing kick, his foot connecting with heavy armor.

Jack was going to need more than nectar and ambrosia after this was over.

The watch on Jack's wrist said it was four in the afternoon. Yet it was dark, indistinguishable from the blackness of midnight. The streetlights that dotted Flower Street drowned in the complete darkness.

Creeping from doorway to alcove to shadow down the street, Jack skirted the little light that might give him away if anyone – er, anything – was watching. And something was most definitely watching.

One block away was the Los Angeles Convention Center, where Nyx was throwing Nightmare Con, a showcase of the worst, most disgusting, and absolutely most terrifying creatures that her domain had to offer. Cash prizes to the ugliest and scariest of them all. Not sure how that competition would be judged.

Jack was going to break up the party. He was the signal.

Nyx and her friends probably wouldn't like that.

Voices at the intersection. Jack ducked into an alleyway, where his only company was a raccoon rummaging through a dumpster.

"Shhhhh," Jack whispered to the rodent, "Chill out dude."

The voices grew louder as their owners shuffled towards the convention center.

"I just finished whitening my fangs. I'll be sure to place this year."

"Bah, what do you use? Charcoal? You'll be lucky not to be laughed it."

"I sharpened them too, sir."

"I'm just happy we finally have a new venue."

"I haven't stretched my wings in centuries."

Fangs? Wings? That sounded like vampires. Jack hated vampires. First of all, shapeshifting was not fair. Second of all, blood sucking was gross and creepy. Third of all, getting turned into a shapeshifting, bloodsucking zombie was about the worst thing that could happen.

Screeching rattled off the inside of the dumpster. The raccoon was scrabbling against the metal walls to no avail, and crying out for help. Jack was not going to answer.

"What was that?" one of the maybe-vampires said.

Or maybe the raccoon did need help. In two bounds, Jack was next to the dumpster, which smelled worse than the Minotaur. He scooped up the dumpster-diving rodent and quickly dropped it at his feet.

"Now will you shut up?"

The rodent squealed and bolted behind the dumpster. That's usually not a good sign.

Jack wheeled around, dagger drawn. Turns out he was right. He hated being right.

The voices were vampires after all.

Three men, each with gray hair, wrinkly skin, and long pointy incisors. The center man had coal black eyes and donned a black tuxedo with a red bowtie. His friends had blue eyes and wore suits Jack thought would fit in on Wall Street.

"I haven't tasted fresh blood in a millennium," the black-eyed one said.

"Do you think Van Helsing returned through the Doors of Death?" one of the side-kicks asked (they were clearly sidekicks - trust).

"I hope not," the other said,

"Quiet!" the head vampire commanded.

"Van Helsing?" Jack said, stalling.

They had a clear advantage. Jack had his back against a wall – or a dumpster, if you're taking it literally. They had numbers and sharp teeth. Jack was fast, but they could fly. And the vampires looked hungry.

"Son of Hades. Took offense to the whole undead walking around and killing the living thing," the leader said.

"Uh, okay."

"You don't know who I am?"

"Uh, no."

"Really?"

Jack shook his head. He was starting to think it was more annoying for him than the minor figure from history he didn't recognize.

"I'm Dracula." The vampire spread his arms and large black wings in unison.

"Okay," Jack gulped. "What whitener do you use?"

Dracula faltered. His wings and arms fell momentarily. "What?"

"Your teeth. I've never seen pearly whites so bright. It's something I've been struggling with personally."

"Oh well, most of its natural. But I use Crest strips as supplements actually.

"I just use mouthwash," the right vampire said.

Dracula looked at him incredulously. "That doesn't even have whitener! You imbecile!"

Jack silently exchanged his dagger for his bow. He notched one of the arrows of light from his new quiver, courtesy of Momus' test.

"I might actually have something even better than Crest," Jack said.

"How? What?" Dracula turned to see Jack's weapon. "I'm sorry for disturbing you. You clearly have a good hold on your brighten–"

The arrow connected with Dracula's front teeth and exploded, ferociously lighting up the alleyway. Jack's eyes watered, but the vampires were toast. Bits of ash littered the ground where they stood.

The skin on Jack's arms and face felt singed, like he'd been out in the sun for way too long without any sunscreen. The arrows weren't just effective against minions of Nyx. He'd have to be careful.

That light show would almost certainly be a beacon for any other demons. Risking being further exposed, Jack sprinted across the intersection and into another alley.

Without catching his breath, Jack leapt up and grabbed the ledge of the fire escape. _Ow, dude_, his knee complained. He pulled himself up and scurried to the roof, where he could get a good view of the entire area.

Jack almost laughed. Across the street from his building massed a crowd of hundreds, maybe even thousands, of shadowy figures. Jack could make out Roman zombie legionnaires, more vampires, even a pair of ogres.

On the street, a hole opened up midair, deposited a trio of dracaena and closed before Jack could see where they came from. The snake women slithered to join the crowd.

Every demon was pushing and clamoring towards the Convention Center entry doors, which were being policed by a ten-foot-tall man wielding an enormous javelin. He barked orders with an iron voice. Scars marred his face and his head was shaved bald.

Atlas.

He was everything Annabeth and Percy described, and Jack was still far away. The Titan's shoulders coiled with muscle, he smashed his own troops if they moved out of line at all, and every single being in attendance was afraid of him. Including Jack.

Now for the fun part of the plan. Jack removed a black cube and clicked the only button. In a few seconds, Jack was holding a megaphone that Keenan built into one of Dax's supercubes.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, I apologize, but I must inform you that Nightmare Con has been officially cancelled." Jack's voice blasted out of the megaphone. He could probably be heard in Beverly Hills.

"I come on behalf the Bureau for Monster Conventions. Nightmare Con was not officially registered with the BMC, and must therefore be shut down."

Murmurs rippled through the crowd. Monsters on the edge of the crowd hung their heads and began to walk away.

Atlas pointed his javelin at Jack and slowly lumbered forward. "Who are you?"

"I'm Jack, with the BMC. Please keep up. Would you all kindly return to whichever shadow, sewer, or landfill you crawled out of."

Atlas laughed. "I'm sorry, boy. We've been working hard on the event and will not be shutting it down."

Monsters cheered and pushed towards the door. The creatures at the front of the line used the distraction to sneak by Atlas.

Jack smiled. "That is unacceptable. Prepare to die."

The megaphone clattered to the roof as Jack drew his bow. He knocked a half dozen arrows and launched them into the middle of the crowd.

Explosions of light vaporized dozens of monsters at a time. The ones closest to the blast screamed. Chaos captured Atlas' army.

The Titan screamed orders as more arrows blasted holes in the monster ranks. Frustrated, he stomped towards Jack's perch, trampling anything that strayed into his path.

Motion to Jack's left distracted him. A mast displaying a black said moved through the street towards the monsters.

The _Marathon_, with the _Hephaestus _right behind it, plowed into the parking lot, firing cannons and Greek fire bombs at monsters. Atlas received a cannonball to the chest, sending him flying into the convention center entryway.

Monsters scattered, running down the avenue in front of the building in both directions. More lights flashed to Jack's right. Celina, Percy, and Annabeth cut off that escape route. Lightning flashed to Jack's left where Jason, Frank, and Dax closed off the road. The rest of the heroes disembarked from the Marathon and charged into the monster army, ice flying and swords swinging.

More enemies streamed out of the entrance to join the fray. Explosions burst water pipes and in one unfortunate circumstance for Piper, a sewer line. Atlas reemerged. Jack hoped that they'd defeat the Titan by making him so angry he exploded. Steam rose of off his bald head. His skin was tinted red. Atlas' eyes flitted around in a panic, trying to figure out a plan and coming up with nothing.

Nyx was still nowhere to be found. There were no hints that Apollo was being held here. For all Jack knew, this was actually just a monster convention. But Atlas was here. He wouldn't be here if this place wasn't important. Unless it was a trap, or a misdirection. Nyx could be going after Camp as they stood there blowing up Nightmare Con. But Atlas wouldn't be bait. He's the most powerful Titan. He's proud, and he's angry.

If Camp was attacked, the Flotilla was there to repel anything short of Nyx herself. Jack gulped. Her massive chariot of darkness would smash the demigods' ships. Camp would burn. Jenni would die, because not one but two of the Heroes of Olympus would fail to save her.

_You weren't there. You were somewhere else._

Momus' taunt floated through his mind as he loosed another volley of light arrows. No. When Camp was attacked, he would be there to defend it. Jenni was not going to die, not at the hands of a demigod. He would make sure of it.

_Do you promise?_

Jack made a mental note for when Zeus granted them a favor after saving the world again. Momus would have a very creative punishment for him, that's for sure.

_Your friends will die and it will be all your fault._

A very creative punishment indeed.

_Can you live with that?_

The earth began to shake. All the combatants froze, uncertain of its origin. An enormous hole ripped apart the air in the middle of the parking lot. It was like the one Jack saw spawn the two snake women, but this one was the size of an apartment buildings.

A massive being covered in jewels tumbled out and crashed into a light post. Behind him, platoons of monsters shrouded in death mist flooded the parking lot.

Jack was suddenly very glad to be exactly where he was - on a roof.


	19. An Apple a Day Keeps the Giant Away

**A/N: *posts chapter weeks later and pretends he hasn't missed any time* thanks guys!**

**An Apple a Day Keeps the Giant Away**

Nico crawled on his hands and knees. The Underworld's tug was burning Nico's insides and he was fighting the urge to throw up. Nico grabbed the top of the charred ridge and pulled himself up.

He was perched on the edge of a massive valley. From his ridge, the ground sloped down. The red mist thickened the further down the slope Nico looked. The rocky terrain was black and broken. Puffs of smoke and fire burst through randomly, leaving jagged shards of scorched earth. A football field away, monsters huddled around a giant man made of jewels. Alcyoneus, the Bane of Hades, barked orders at them.

Every few seconds, a small wormhole of purple light would appear, a number of monsters would disappear into it, and the hole would close again.

Nemesis hoisted herself next to Nico. Her black hair was covered in ash and her spandex tracksuit had ripped in places. She either didn't have the power to fix them in the Underworld, or she didn't care.

The pair had abandoned Nemesis' motorcycle at the base of the ridge, opting for a stealthy approach. Nico regretted it. He thought a blitzkrieg might be the only thing that would give them the upper hand.

"Where are we?" Nemesis asked.

"The very edge of Tartarus," Nico said. "If we keep going we'll fall right in."

"Let's push them in."

"Don't we have to figure out what's going on down there?" Nico asked.

Nemesis glared at him. "The only thing we have to do is stop it from happening. I don't give a Minotaur dung why they're doing it."

Nico sighed. "Then we're treating the symptom, not the disease."

"This is not a disease the two of us can kill."

Groups of monsters waded out of the mist. A pair of cyclops. A trio of dracaenae. A family of hell hounds. Wormholes opened, they punched their ticket, and they were gone.

"I smell something foul,"Nemesis said.

"This whole place smells foul."

"No, this smells sickly and rotting. I've smelt it before."

"It would probably be useful if you remembered before we charge down there."

"No promises."

"Then let's go," Nico said.

"You don't have a plan."

"So? You want to stay up here and discuss your siblings we've run into, or which ones we haven't yet? Do you want to talk about how you weren't totally honest with me and probably still aren't?"

"Not particularly."

"Then we stroll down there. Yell. Kill a couple uglies. Alcyoneus will get cocky, tell us part of his plan. Then we kill him. Deal?"

"Fine. But we're doing this my way."

Nemesis pulled a scythe keychain from her pocket. It held a pair of keys and a Harley Davidson car starter. Nemesis pressed a green button.

Headlights flicked on behind them. The motorcycle chugged forward. It split Nico and Nemesis before gliding onto the decline.

Nemesis jogged after the bike. Nico drew his sword and followed.

To Nico, Nemesis seemed more like a demigod than the goddess he knew she was. He'd seen her get hurt, make mistakes, admit mistakes all in the past hour. Nemesis was frustrated and anxious, and not hiding a shred of it. She said "things" changed after Gaea went to sleep. Nico wondered if the gods were losing control of the world.

Nyx didn't seem like the subversion type. Gaea had wanted to break the gods and demigods from within, make them tear each other apart. Then she'd swoop in, clean up the leftovers, and take the throne. Nyx and her supposed army of darkness seemed like they wanted to win by overwhelming force. Nico hadn't had much schooling, on account of his supposed to be dead, but the little history he did know told him Nyx's idea was a bad one.

Nemesis put a hand on his shoulder and they stopped. The bike kept rolling towards the monsters. She crouched and he mimicked her. In one hand she aimed her revolver forward. In the other she held the keys.

When the motorcycle was feet from the monster cluster, Nemesis pushed a red button and dropped the keys. The motorcycle put on a show. Police lights flashed from seat. The headlights flickered on and off. The safety alarm blared. Confetti blasted out the side of the handlebars.

"Leo?" Nico asked about the party decorations. He wasn't totally sure what Nemesis was going to accomplish besides giving them all a headache. But he trusted her, which he couldn't say for a lot of gods. At least it was more interesting than "charge!"

Nemesis didn't respond. She didn't pull her eyes away.

Monsters tripped over each other backing away from the motorcycle. The bike pushed up against the grey leg of a cyclops. The one-eyed behemoth picked up the bike with one hand. He inspected the lights and growled.

Alcyoneus yelled and approached the disturbance.

Nemesis' revolver barked, and the motorcycle exploded in a cloud of Greek fire. Alcyoneus was thrown backward. The cyclops and half the monsters disappeared in a cloud of dust.

"Go!" Nemesis said.

Nico thought the whole scene must look ridiculous to anyone watching, maybe his father. A teenager and a goddess sprinting at a group of confetti covered telekhines and a Giant made of jewels. Nico cut through a dozen enemies and stood face to face with Alcyoneus.

"Your death," Nico said. "Is long overdue."

The giant raised a fist and a black spear as long as a pole vault materialized. The tip was purple and shiny as steel. A necklace dangled from Alcyoneus' neck that held a key made of white bone.

Nico gasped.

Alcyoneus fingered the key. He laughed. "Made by Tartarus himself. The ruler of the Underworld ought to have a set of keys, eh?"

Nemesis shot a cyclops in the face, destroying him, and walked towards them. "You're no ruler."

He grinned. "Not yet."

The keys of Hades were a set of magical keys that could "unlock" the Underworld. The wielder of the key could release any soul from the Underworld, or send someone deep into Tartarus himself. Gaea or Nyx must have had it forged for the giant. That's how monsters were getting out of Tartarus. That's why the Underworld was in disarray. That key was why Nico had come all this way. Her eyes and cheeks bled. She wobbled forward.

A woman emerged from the mist. She was grotesquely thin. Her skin was a mottled grey and cysts grew all over her. She had sparse hair that was in dire need of eighteen rinse cycles.

"Hello sister," she said.

"Akhyls," Nemesis said, "What's your part in this?"

Akhyls waved her hands threw the air. Black and silver mist shimmered in their wake. "I'm helping Mother. Monsters need armor too sometimes." She threw a ball of mist at a telekhine. The monster whimpered, his shape billowing into a shadow. The beast roared and charged Nico.

Nico sliced the demon dog in. He shrugged and pointed to his sword. "Stygian iron."

Nemesis fired her pistol at Akhlys. The rounds passed through the goddess of misery. Akhlys evaporated with a cackle.

"I don't have time to deal with you," Alcyoneus said. "I have other demigods to kill."

Alcyoneus whistled. The mist rushed out of the crater and disappeared over the ridges. Past the giant stood long lines of monsters stretching down the slope into the black pit of Tartarus. They were waiting for their turn to leave. Shadowy wraiths as large as Alcyoneus stood at the head of each line, keeping the monsters from rushing forward. They wore armor as black as night and had no faces.

Alcyoneus pointed his spear at Nico. "Get them, and earn your ticket out of Tartarus."

The wraiths stepped to the side. Monsters charged forward. Harpies flew over dracaenae. A drakon knocked goblins out of its way. A cyclops who's eye had been poked out shuffled aimlessly forward.

There was no way out. Nico sighed. He and nemesis couldn't fight them all. They'd just destroyed their only way out of here, and their target was about to teleport away. They'd wasted their deaths.

Something heavy rolled in Nico's cloak pocket. He pulled out the golden apple that Eris gave him. It was an apple of discord, of chaos. One had started the Trojan war. Nico figured it should be able to help them get out of this. But he wasn't about to take a bite.

"Nemesis," Nico said. He threw the apple into the air. The red mist distorted its golden glow. "Think fast!"

The monster army was almost on top of them. The apple exploded in a golden cloud. Nothing happened. The creatures kept running and Alcyoneus started laughing.

"Nico..." Nemesis said.

Nico grabbed his sword with both hands and braced for impact. He swung his blade and sliced off the first harpy's wings.

There was a loud _POP!_ Everything went dark. Nico's sight returned slowly. The edges of his vision tinged with red and black. It became hard to breath. Monsters ran around him, slicing and wailing each other. They were screaming and bleeding from their eyes and ears.

Then Nico was screaming. He was angry and he didn't know why. He hacked and slashed through the horde, yelling and chanting words he didn't know. It was a free-for-all. It was chaos. The Underworld tugged on his gut, and Nico killed in that direction.

He caught sight of Alcyoneus. The giant was stomping on telekhines while a trio of harpies stabbed him in the back.

Nico's skin burned. He screamed again. A fissure opened in the black ground. Skeletons climbed out, tackling any monster they saw. They picked up the broken bones of their fallen comrades and used them as weapons. The skeletons cleared a path between Nico and the bane of Hades.

He ran forward, forgetting everything but the giant and the key. Alcyoneus saw him, and his eyes went wild. He ripped the key off the necklace with one hand and speared a minotaur with the other. He started muttering something Nico knew was an incantation. Alcyoneus was going to escape.

A purple wormhole opened behind the giant. A smile spread over Alcyoneus' face and Nico ran harder. The hole kept growing, and growing until it was the size of a suburban house. The hole had a gravitational pull, sucking in smaller monsters. Alcyoneus fought against the current, stomping away from the hole.

Nico threw his body into the air. He shouldered the giant in the chest, throwing him off balance. Nico grabbed onto Alceyoneous' bedazzled hair. The giant stumbled and they both tumbled into the wormhole.


End file.
